Why Does History Always Repeat Itself?
by ThatGuyInThePicture
Summary: The end time is upon them. The Rift has been released. At a time when Dipper, Stanley and Ford couldn't be farther apart, they must come together to save Mabel and the world. Takes place immediately after Dipper and Mabel vs. the Future. Rated K plus, might be bumped to T later. HIATUS INDEFINITE. (Cover art: Fallen Star by Big-Sister-K on deviantART)
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! My name is ThatGuyInThePicture. This is my first fanfic. This takes place immediately following** _ **Dipper and Mabel vs. the Future**_ **.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own** _ **Gravity Falls**_ **, Alex Hirsch and Disney XD does.**

* * *

There are many images that may come to your mind when you think about the 'end of the world'. Some think that an asteroid will impact the Earth, shattering its core, sending us into doomsday. Others believe in a book that claims four horsemen will arrive and terrorize us, running amuck across the planet while bringing war, famine, and death with them. Of course, there are many other theories out there, all with true believers waiting for their signal of the end times. But as he stood there, jaw dropped, looking out from the Shack, looking up to the sky, he found himself thinking that no one could have predicted this as a way for us to go out.

The sky itself had been literally torn apart. A giant, portal-like 'X' shaped rip was now sewn into dark red-orange sunset wallpaper. But that wasn't all. It was growing in size. A triangle silhouette had risen to the center of his masterpiece.

Bill. His grinded, maniacal laugh pierced through the diminished sound of chaos coming from all around the valley.

Bill had gotten the Rift. Mabel had taken the wrong backpack when she fled the Shack in tears.

Bill, Mabel, and the Rift. It took longer to process than it should have.

"MABEL!" Dipper screamed to the forest yards away. The 12 year-old quickly scanned the forest line, looking for anything that could tell him which direction his twin had took off in. Then he realized he didn't need to. The blast of power that was fueling the rip's growth was directly ahead of him. He immediately started to run, but the desperate kid was pulled back before he could start a full-on sprint into the maze of trees.

"Dipper, what are you doing?!" Ford demanded as he spun his great-nephew around to face him. Dipper kept trying to escape his arm from stopping his attempt to go and find Mabel. Great Uncle Ford glared in frustration as he continued to hold Dipper back so he didn't make a rash decision. But finding her wasn't a rash decision. It was the only choice. She must have had the Rift, since she grabbed the wrong bag before heading out into the forest.

"I'm going to find Mabel, Ford! Let me go!" Dipper cried out, struggling against his great uncle's strong grip on the backpack.

"Bill has the Rift, Dipper! We have to get out of here!" Stanford pleaded to his nephew while he tugged the backpack to keep Dipper from leaving him. The struggle seemed to go one for a few moments, until the younger was able to unleash the backpack and push Ford to the ground. The old man grunted as he hit the grass, and his "to-be" apprentice snatched the bag before fleeing into the forest.

"DIPPER, COME BACK HERE! IT'S TOO LATE, SHE'S GO-" Ford yelled from just outside the Mystery Shack. Stanford's yelling stopped and was replaced by the screaming of his brother Stanley. Ford's calls to Dipper went unanswered and soon enough, the young boy was out of earshot for to hear his teacher's warnings. Whatever his great uncle was going to tell him, he didn't want to hear a word of it. All that mattered was the pillar of light way ahead of him.

* * *

As he slowed down once he was out of Ford's sight, Dipper cautiously thought about how the apocalypse had begun. Somehow, the Rift had been released and now, Bill had his hands all over it. How could he have gotten it? Did Mabel make a deal to hand Bill the Rift?

"No," he immediately reassured himself. Dipper knew Mabel was smart enough to not make a deal with the town's devil. But then he remembered how much of an emotional wreck she was when she had run out into the forest. This hour was probably the most vulnerable she could have been this entire summer, knowing what she would do for him to come back with her to Piedmont in the coming week. His mind raced towards the dark possibilities that could be laid before him when he reached the blast sight.

Then he remembered what Ford had said just before Grunkle Stan had interrupted.

Stanford believed that Mabel was already dead.

He couldn't bear to even consider a thought about the prospect. The great Author of the Journals, his long, lost great-uncle, had given up on his great-niece. Dipper called back to memory his adventure with Stanford that day and how much he wanted him to stay in Gravity Falls to become his apprentice.

"Isn't it suffocating?" was something that Ford had brought up back in the alien spaceship earlier that day. Suffocating? Mabel didn't 'suffocate' him. She could be a tiny nuisance or a little annoying, but Dipper couldn't recall a moment of her holding him back in regards to his future. She had let him go with Ford today while she made preparations for their 13th birthday party. Dipper's mentor had asked him whether he believed in being meant for great things. Monster hunting, mystery solving, and more exploration of the town would just be the beginning of their escapades.

"How many other twelve-year-olds do you think are capable of doing what you've just done?" was another exclamation Stanford had quipped after his student had faced the probe ship without any fear. Didn't Ford know how he was even back in the real world? Mabel had trusted Grunkle Stan over Dipper. If he was ever faced with that decision, he could have never put faith in Stan at the time. Considering the weight of the destruction of the world wasn't on Dipper's shoulders when he took on the robot, Mabel's choice seemed much more intimidating and tough to make.

In fact, the more Dipper continued to think about the day's events, he more he realized history was repeating itself. When Ford was given the opportunity to leave home for success, Stanley felt betrayed. They had been together since they were kids and now, his best friend was leaving him and their dream of sailing the ocean? He became angry and _accidently_ ruined his brother's chances of getting into the college of his dreams. The result? Years of separation and bitterness towards each other. Dipper had to compare the situation. Stanford was giving him the chance of a lifetime, to become his apprentice: an anomaly expert of the world's strangest mystery-riddled town. For him to leave Mabel at a time when she realized how different the future was going to be from her fantasy was betrayal in the highest form to her. They had been together through everything, just like their great-uncles. Why did history always have to repeat itself? But now came the hardest part to ponder. Stanley broke Ford's project. What had Mabel done to him?

She had given the Rift to Bill.

She wasn't dumb enough to give it to him knowing it was Bill though. Through their encounters with Cipher, they both had come to the conclusion he could never under any circumstances be trusted. The demon most likely had possessed someone else and convinced his twin to hand over the destructive snow globe containing an entrance to the Dreamscape. She couldn't have had any idea what it was and what it was capable of. It had to have been an accident, just like Stanley's frustration about his brother's project.

Through all his deep thinking, Dipper remembered the bag he toted behind him and what was packed inside. The walkie-talkie.

While he continued to run, he scrambled his hands through the birthday invitations and other paraphernalia that Mabel had put in the sack. It took only a few seconds before he felt the hard, rubber grip of the walkie. He brought it out before pressing the button and calling for an answer.

"Mabel! Come in, Mabel!"

No response.

"Mabel, are you there?!"

Silence.

"Mabel! Can you hear me?!"

Nothing but static plagued the airwaves. But now as Dipper looked back up, he realized he was only a few more sets of trees away from the center of the rip in the sky. With every step closer, the brightness around him only became even brighter, causing the boy to shield his eyes as he reached his goal.

He trembled as he stepped out of the trees and into the small circle where the Rift must have been released. He hoped answers to what had and was conspiring across Gravity Falls were going to be right in front of him.

Or so he thought.

* * *

 **Sorry to leave on a cliffhanger. Chapter 2 will be up in the next couple days!**

 **-That Guy**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hello everyone, ThatGuy here! I was stunned to see 8 faves and 9 follows when I woke up this morning!**

 **Thanks so much for all the support already! I won't keep you waiting, here's Chapter 2!**

* * *

There was a tiny clearing where the energy was bursting from the ground, up into the X. Dipper found it a bit odd, considering how thick the forest was around these parts. To be honest, he hadn't found many clearings throughout the forest outside the Mystery Shack ever since he arrived at the beginning of summer. Coming to get a closer look, Dipper could see the large body lying still in front of the pillar. It was the size of an adult. Walking closer, Dipper heard a cracking noise as he accidentally stepped on something. Pulling away his foot, he discovered a now shattered pair of goggles that lay in the grass. He recognized them. Dipper picked them up and examined them while continuing to venture closer to the pillar of energy and body. It wasn't until he saw who it was that he understood why the goggles' were there.

Blendin Blandin was slumped on the ground in front of him, not moving. The goggles belonged to Blendin's.

Bill, Mabel, Blendin, and the Rift.

Many possible scenarios floated into Dipper's mind. None of them had positive outcomes. Dipper cautiously began to walk around the energy blast to find anything else in the vicinity. He imagined what he might find on the other side. Moving slowly past the pillar, he came to a sudden halt when he saw what he dreaded.

A smaller body lay just a few yards away. It bore a red-pink sweater.

"MABEL!" Dipper shouted as he ran to his still sister. He knelt down to look her over. He imagined her to have suffered some sort of wound after her meeting with Bill and Blendin. But there were no scars or bruises that were visible to Dipper's eyes as he darted back and forth over his sister's body. He put his ear to her chest, anticipating a heartbeat. At first, he heard no pulse. But after a few seconds, Dipper could hear probably the weakest heartbeat in existence. It was a slow, light rhythm that he had to strain to hear.

As he pulled his head away from her heart, Dipper could feel the tears beginning to well up in his eyes. He knew there was no use in fighting them back. He could also feel the guilt building in his heart. It was his choice to stay in Gravity Falls with Ford. If he had just said no, she would have not run into the forest in such distress. He could have comforted her about summer's end and how they could come back to the Falls next year.

"Mabel, wake up!" Dipper begged as he shook Mabel's body back and forth.

She stayed limb.

"Please Mabel! I'm sorry!" he cried out in frustration and anger against himself. He continued to sniffle and choke while he gazed at his sister's face.

It was kind of ironic. This was probably the scariest moment in Dipper's life. He was feeling worse than when Mabel trusted Grunkle Stan over him in the basement of the Shack. The end of the world had begun and his twin sister was not waking up. Yet, the expression on Mabel's face would say otherwise.

It was if she was at peace. Mabel had kept the same weak smile across her face ever since Dipper had arrived on the scene. It was like she didn't care that the world was crumbling around her.

This made Dipper shed even more tears. He pulled her body into an embrace that siblings always do. He cried heavily into her shoulder; letting her birthday cupcake sweater suck up the drops of salt he let out.

"Please Mabel," Dipper choked out while crying. "Wake up." About a minute passed by while he kept on quietly begging and soaking Mabel's sweater. He didn't care about anything else. He didn't want Ford's apprenticeship. He didn't want anything in the world but his sister to wake up or himself to wake up from this nightmare.

A groan entered the air. Dipper gasped.

The groan broke the silence again. Dipper went still. The grunts came from a voice that was whiny and cracking. It definitely didn't belong to his sister.

"Huh? Hel-llo?" the stuttering voice cried in confusion. Dipper could recognize that voice anywhere.

He turned around and strained his neck to see past the energy blast.

Blendin Blandin was sitting up and looking around.

* * *

Grunkle Stan only caught a glimpse of Dipper dashing into the forest when he came outside to see what was going on. Stanley had been preparing dinner for everyone and contemplating his conversation with Mabel from earlier when he heard what he thought was a small explosion. The Shack rumbled a few seconds later. He didn't think much of it though until his ears picked up probably the most disturbing noises he had ever heard in his life.

Screaming, moaning, and cries for help could be heard from outside. But it didn't seem to be coming from somebody in particular, but from the entire valley of Gravity Falls.

Just as he set down the spatula he used to flip pancakes (Stan wanted to surprise Mabel with something special for dinner as she just had 'the worst day of her life') to look out the window, devious laughter cut through the air and the cries of pain. He didn't recognize who it belonged to, but saw his brother Ford and grand-nephew Dipper looking up to the sky. What he did see he couldn't believe.

There was an X-shaped rift in the sky.

Now, Stanley had spent decades living in Gravity Falls under his brother's name and roof. For the first couple years after Ford had disappeared into the portal, Stan had used Journal 1 to locate certain items needed to construct the machine to bring his twin back. The journal Ford left was an introduction to this strange town he now resided in. While Stan briefly checked out some of Gravity Fall's weirdest 'attractions' that were featured in the journal, he preferred to keep his distance from whatever lurked in the forest. He often liked to combine the creatures that were detailed in Ford's journal and mash them up with whatever household items he could find for the Mystery Shack tours.

X-shaped cuts in the sky were something new to him.

He burst out of the kitchen and ran to the front door still in his typical white sweat-stained tank top, striped boxers, and slippers he always wore around the house (over the tank top, he wore an apron that declared 'KISS MY BUNS'). Out of the subdued screaming, he could hear Ford and Dipper arguing. When he got to the porch, Dipper had just run into the forest; Ford sitting on the ground calling out his great-nephew's name.

"DIPPER, COME BACK HERE! IT'S TOO LATE, SHE'S GO-"

"What is going on, Ford?!" Stan interrupted from the porch.

Ford turned to face his brother with a worried look smudged across his face. He hesitated to response. Stan became angry.

"Hey, do you mind explaining where Dipper went and why there's a FRICKING X IN THE SKY?" Stan demanded walking out to confront his twin.

"Look Stanley, I don't have time to explain! We have to get back inside! Bill has the Rift and 'weird-maddegon' has begun!" Ford exclaimed as he attempted to direct Stan back towards the shack.

"Weird-a what?!" Stan questioned as grabbed Ford, stopping his endeavor to push him back inside. He looked behind Ford to the trees where Dipper ran into the forest. There was a blast of energy going into the X in the direction Dipper took off in. His suspicions grew higher. Before Ford could try to plead Stan to go back inside again, the fez-topped man interrupted his brother once more.

"Where did Dipper go, Ford?" Stan asked.

"He went after Mabel; I don't know what happened o-"

"WHAT?!" Stan yelled. He hadn't even heard Mabel slip out the door earlier. He assumed she was still upstairs in her and Dipper's room.

"Where are they?!" he screamed. Stan was at a boiling point. He didn't know how, but the kids were involved in whatever was going on; something of his brother's doing.

Stan recalled their first real conversation after Ford returned through the portal. He had agreed to give Ford his house and name back on one condition.

"You stay away from the kids; I don't want them in danger," was the one term on the table for their agreement. "Cause as far as I'm concerned, they're the only family I have left."

"Stan, it's too dangerous! We have to go ba-"

"I HAD ONE RULE, FORD! ONE RULE! WHERE ARE THEY?!"

Ford reluctantly looked back up to the sky and pointed to the energy blast. Stanley pushed him out of the way in frustration and started sprinting towards the forest.

"Wait! Stanley!" Ford called out.

Stan was in no mood to turn around. He stopped before the tree line and sighed.

"What is it?!" he bitterly responded, refusing to look back.

Ford took a deep breath.

"Look, I don't know what you'll find out there! She could be dead for all we know!"

That was it for Stan. He turned to face Ford. Ford gave a 'sorry I said that…' expression, hoping it would make the situation better.

"I was right," Stan said coldly. "They are or _were_ the only family I have. And _you_ may have taken them away from me."

Stanley returned his focus to the forest in front of him and began to run towards the pillar of energy. Stanford Pines could walk off the earth and he wouldn't even care. He had done so much to bring back his lost brother and this is how Ford repaid him.

To him, Mabel and Dipper were truly, the only family he had left.

* * *

 **Those last couple sentences really got me as I wrote them.**

 **Anyways, remember to review! I would love some constructive criticism as this is my first fic.**

 **-ThatGuy**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hello, fine readers! ThatGuy here again with another chapter, and a juicy one at that!**

 **Again, I want to thank everyone that has favorited, followed, reviewed, or read any part of the story so far. I never expected this to blow up so fast.**

 **Before starting, I am going to give you a heads-up about Blendin's backstory, which I briefly detail in this chapter. While there are lines that imply a strong connection to another animated television program, this fic is not a crossover. I will explain the reference at the end if you don't catch it.**

 **Also, I will be revising spelling and grammatical errors that slipped by in Chapters 1 and 2 soon. So if you see this story updated in the next couple of days, don't expect Chapter 4.**

 **Chapter 3 lies below!**

* * *

"I-Is anyone th-there?" Blendin called out to no one in particular. The time traveler was struggling to get to his feet, as it seemed he was quite disoriented. Dipper could also tell that the man was having trouble seeing, due to his straining eyes. He recalled the broken pair of goggles still grasped in his hands.

While Dipper didn't want to let go of Mabel anytime soon, he needed answers. He needed to know what happened. He couldn't stand not knowing how all this occurred, as was Dipper's curious nature. But it didn't help that whatever played out had rendered his sister unconscious and started the apocalypse.

Dipper's sadness started to subside and something else took its place. Anger. Blendin was somehow involved and had to know how "Weird-mageddon" as Stanford had called it had begun. He set his sister against a tree nearby before confronting the man from the future.

"Blendin!" Dipper called out as he marched over. The boy's fists began to clench up waiting for a reply.

"Wh-who sa-said that?" Blendin responded. He faced Dipper, but still couldn't recognize his former enemy. But before Blendin could say his name, Dipper began to run at the man and pushed him to the ground.

"What happened, Blendin?! What did you do to my sister?!" Dipper demanded in frustration. The time removal crewman tried getting back to his knees but Dipper pushed him back down, slamming his chubby head into the grass.

"I-I-I did-idn't do any-yth-hing!" Blendin exclaimed; his retort muffled by the blades of grass in his mouth. Dipper only grew more angry and pushed Blendin harder into the soft ground. How could he have not been involved in all this? Did he just happen to show up at precisely the wrong moment?

"I-I did-idn't do anyth-hi-ng to your sist-ter! L-let me expl-lain myself first-t!" Blendin pleaded. Dipper let up on his pressure against the Blendin's head. The brown-haired boy saw the desperation and confusion in his victim's face. It seemed that he was telling the truth. He couldn't have _intentionally_ done anything to hurt Mabel. After all, both parties had left on good terms after their epic game of Globnar (The twins had spared the time traveler's life and given him something he had always desired: hair). Plus, Bill was a part of it and anything could be possible since he was involved.

Dipper let go of Blendin's shoulder and let the pudgy grey-suited man get on his feet. He promptly sat back down and motioned Dipper to as well. From Blendin's expression, shame was all he felt inside.

"Dip-per, I-I, I-I-I…., I did-dn't m-mean for any of this to happ-pen."

Dipper nodded for Blendin to continue.

"I-I was t-tricked."

* * *

It was the year 207̃012, and Blendin Blenjamin Blandin was doing quite fine.

Dipper and Mabel Pines, the twins responsible for him losing his job were no longer his enemies, but his friends. They had spared his life after he lost to them in the most treacherous game in the galaxy: Globnar. The two kids had even blessed him with two of his most treasured desires: hair and his job back.

Blendin had now returned to his old post with the Time Anomaly Removal Crew. While some members of the overarching Enforcement Squadron like Lolph and Dundgren didn't let up on the fact he was saved by a pair of twelve year-olds, the removal crew welcomed him back with open arms. Open arms as in, the same teasing and insults he had always received before he was fired. It was like nothing had changed for the nervous wreck of a time traveler.

It had been a few months after Globnar that Blendin was given some time off as new recruits were taking some assignments for the week. A perk about being a member of the T.A.R.C. was the fact he was allowed to travel across time, even when off-duty. Crew members had to take an oath, knowing that any tampering of time off the job would result in an automatic meeting with Time Baby.

And nobody wanted to upset Time Baby.

Outside the Time Paradox Avoidance Enforcement Squadron's building, Blendin decided that he wanted the Pines to know that everything he went through because of them was behind him now. Time prison, infinite sentence, Globnar, and all. He knew that curiosity had gotten the best of them when he took his belt off to go on the barrel ride at the fair. He was sure that if he was in their shoes as a kid, he probably would have done the same thing. If it wasn't for kids like them, what was the point of a Time Anomaly Removal Crew anyways?

Blendin set his time-travel device for Gravity Falls, Oregon, August 24th, 2012, 7:00pm. He chose this date as it was one week after Globnar in their time. He didn't want to come to say hi only a few days after the dust settled, so he decided one week would be a good space of time between their last meetings.

The futuristic buildings and bustling streets that had surrounded him vanished as he let go of the measure's tape. He was now enclosed in a classic Pacific Northwest forest, the air smelling of sweet pine and fir trees.

Blendin had always found the forest an interesting place. In his time, skyscrapers and complexes had spread across the entire planet. Humanity had developed new technology to produce oxygen, so forests quickly diminished while new cities took their place. But there was something about the forest couldn't be produced by mile-high buildings on every block besides the oxygen and CO2.

'Isolation' and 'calm' were words that came to mind. Blendin lived in a world with over 12 billion people. Everywhere people turned, being alone in public was something that was non-existent.

Here, natural towers covered him and stood only yards apart. Silence haunted the far vicinity of where he stood, besides the occasional bird call every couple minutes.

He was truly alone.

But now that he did a 360° to view his surroundings, something wasn't right. Everything he saw was in grayscale. No visible color was splashed on the trees, or bark, or even the sky. Had he just gone color-blind? That was what weirded Blendin out the most, until he noticed an unfamiliar shadow rising above his on the tree in front of him.

He viewed a triangular shape hovering over his silhouette's head. He quickly turned around and grabbed his small, hand laser stun-gun off his belt.

"Wh-ho g-goe-es t-ther-re?!" Blendin yelled, disrupting the peaceful nothing that had enclosed the forest. Whatever was behind him, had completely disappeared. He clenched the gun in fear, knowing it was his only mode of defense since he was off-duty.

The sound of silence deafened the forest.

"L-look-k, I h-have a g-gun! I'll l-leav-ve if you want-t!" Blendin stated out to the empty air. He began to turn around slowly, checking his entire field of vision for any intruders.

"Hey timey-wimey!" a mechanical voice called out from all around him.

"W-wh-here a-are y-you?!" Blendin demanded. He was practically spinning in circles now, looking for whoever was tormenting him. He pointed the stun-gun up into the air where he originally saw the shadow.

"Look, I mean no harm! I'm a friend who wants to say hi!" it said.

"P-pleas-se, l-leave m-me al-lon-ne! I-I n-need t-to g-go!" Blendin quipped in response.

"Oh, I don't think you need to go yet, _Blendin_." it replied.

It knew his name. How could it have known his name? Had he met this person before? It didn't sound like anyone he had encountered from Gravity Falls in the past.

"H-h-how d-do y-you k-know my nam-me?!" Blendin demanded to the invisible voice. His nerves only continued to grow as silence echoed for a few seconds before a reply.

"Like I've said many times before, I know LLLOOOTTTSSS OOOFFF TTHHIIINNNGGGSSS," the voice creepily drawled out.

Blendin was getting dizzy turning in every direction to see who was talking to him. He had to stop soon or he'd fall to the ground.

"O-ok, c-come o-out s-so I c-can s-see you. T-then w-we'll t-talk-k." Blendin proposed.

He waited for a response. The forest remained quiet.

A voice projected into Blendin's ear.

"You sound like a man of compromise. I like that."

"AHHHH!" the time traveler screamed. He spun around to face his 'follower'. But he was quite surprised to not find a human standing in front of him.

A floating triangle with one eye, a tall top hat, tiny bow tie, and small black cane stared directly at him. He didn't even have a mouth, which only scared and confused Blendin even more.

"Wh-ho a-… Wh-what-t are y-you?" Blendin yelled. He pointed his stun-gun at the creature's eye.

"Really? Do you think that a stun-gun will subdue me?" the triangle asked.

Blendin didn't even consider the question. He pulled the trigger.

The laser passed straight through the talking geometric shape. Blendin dropped the gun and put his hands above his head. He didn't even think about running. He wasn't in shape to at all.

"L-look-k, I-I d-don't h-have anyt-thing v-valuabl-le. I-If y-you w-wan-nt, I-I c-ca-"

"Whoa!" exclaimed the triangle. "I didn't come to pickpocket you, timey-wimey. I just wanted to say hi, like I said earlier."

The creature decreased his altitude to make Blendin feel more comfortable. Blendin took even more caution.

"Why don't we start with introductions first? I'm Bill Cipher, and I thought it would be nice to say hello! That's all." Bill stated, tipping his hat to Blendin.

The ground titled and Blendin tumbled backwards and hit the ground.

"Oops, sorry about that. It happens sometimes." Bill remarked regarding the shift in angle. He placed his hat back atop his pointed head and the ground became level again.

Blendin stumbled getting back to his feet. He was from the future, and he couldn't even believe all this. Was this all real? Was he dreaming?

"U-um, B-Bill, i-if t-that's y-your nam-me? W-what-t a-are y-you?" Blendin asked.

"I'm a triangle!" Bill replied. "Isn't that plain to see, timey-wimey?"

"N-no, t-that's n-not-t w-what I-I m-meant-t. W-what-t a-are y-you act-tually?" Blendin asked in shock.

"Hey, I think we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves," Bill warned. "But if you wondering what I'm here to do, then you're in for a treat!" he then giddily declared.

"W-what?" Blendin questioned.

"Look, I know you've been through some tough times, timey-wimey." Bill said, pulling Blendin close to him. Blendin was now in full panic mode.

"I-I d-don't k-know w-what t-tough t-times y-you're t-talking about, b-buddy!" Blendin yelled, pulling himself away from the triangle. "I-If y-you're t-talking ab-bout t-time prison, t-that's all b-behind me!"

"Oh, I'm not talking about that," Bill responded. "I'm talking about something wwwaaayyy before that."

Blendin became still. There was something that popped into the back of his mind. He shook his head and became angry at Bill.

"St-top wast-ting my time, I-I am completely f-fine!" Blendin denied, knowing the Bill had struck a chord in his heart regarding something about his past.

"You've got a pretty good life, don't ya, timey-wimey? Nice job, friends, and family I'm sure."

Blendin naturally frowned at the last part. He quickly wiped the expression off his face but Bill saw it in time.

"C'mon timey-wimey, admit it," Bill dared. Blendin was getting increasing angry every second he spent in the triangle's presence.

"M-my l-life is n-none of your b-business!" Blendin growled. "L-leave m-me al-lone!"

"All I want for you is to say something. You know what I want you to say." Bill lectured.

"N-no," Blendin objected.

"Say it." Bill reiterated.

"No."

" _Say it_."

"NO."

" _SAY IT!_ "

"I HAVE NO FAMILY!" Blendin shrieked from the top of his lungs. He fell to his knees and began to weep.

There was a another reason that forests attracted Blendin so much. As a teenager, he somehow lost his memory about his past and where he came from. He didn't know who his parents were, or if he had any siblings. He was passed around foster homes until he was 19. He was a loner and wanted to be left to his own devices, but he could never be alone. He was always surrounded by judging eyes, raised eyebrows, and insults hitting him like cannonballs.

The forest was where he could truly be by himself. And now, his go-to place for peace wasn't so peaceful anymore.

His weeping echoed through the empty maze of trees. He didn't understand why this intruder needed him to admit his darkest secret.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!" Blendin demanded, looking down at the ground, expecting an answer from his so-called 'friend'.

His snorts and voice cracks were the only sound for about ten seconds. The triangular creature came close to Blendin.

"I want to help you," Bill told him.

Blendin heard the creature snap his fingers. He looked up to see a family portrait hanging in the air. There stood a mother, father, he guessed a 14 year-old girl, and a 10 year-old boy standing in front of a cheesy blue photography background. The boy wore a yellow shirt and had short brown hair.

While yellow wasn't his favorite color, he did have brown hair as a teenager. In fact, it looked about as close as he could have looked like around that age. The young boy was thin, but Blendin had been thinner when he was younger. He had let himself go once he left foster care, and never really cared about his physical shape.

There were no photos or records to prove anything but as he continued to gaze at the photograph, he began to believe that those people were his actual family. He had two parents and an older sister. He didn't know their names or where they were. Like a kid reaching for a candy bar on a shelf, Blendin reached for the image to grab it to get a closer look.

The glossy splashed and dissolved into thin air. But before Blendin could object, Bill spoke.

"You _do_ have a family, Blendin. I can take you to them and give you back the time that you lost when you forgot who you were."

Blendin was awestruck. He thought that Bill was trying to torture him, trying to squeeze every bit of pain and suffering he had experienced during his late teenage years. But all this time, he was trying to help him and show him that he wasn't alone his entire life and didn't have to be. He could reunite with his mom, dad, and sister.

Bill Cipher stretched out his arm extending a flaming palm towards Blendin; waiting for a handshake to seal the deal.

In any other case, Blendin would have thought things more carefully. Things like this seemed too good to be true or had some sort of catch to them. But he was so drawn to Bill's power and his possible family that he felt like he could never get a chance like this again. Thanking the Pines could wait. His family was out there, looking for him. And Bill was waiting for an answer.

Blendin grabbed the triangle's flaring blue hand and shook hard.

Just as Blendin was about to let Bill's hand go, the dorito-shaped demon pulled Blendin's hand with such a force, it felt like his arm was being pulled off his body.

Blendin screamed as he fell forward onto the ground.

He blacked out.

* * *

Blendin woke up with a start. He looked up and noticed that color had returned to the forest. The grass was green and the sky was beginning to turn sunset orange. But there was something else now bothering him. He felt different, in that he felt he wasn't actually lying on the ground but in essence: floating.

He tried getting to his feet by leaning on a fallen tree for support. He gasped when he saw his own hand pass through the log. But nothing prepared him for what he saw next when he turned around.

His own body lay on the ground a few feet from him.

It only sat still for only a few seconds before it began to stir. It slowly crawled onto its hands and knees before standing under its own power. 'Blendin' cackled evilly as he took off his goggles. The real Blendin couldn't believe his eyes.

Literally, his own eyes now possessed the narrowest pupils he had ever seen.

"N-n-no! T-this isn-n't w-what w-we agreed on!" Blendin raged.

"We didn't agree on anything, but you shook my hand, didn't ya, timey-wimey?" 'Bill-din' taunted, having his own voice come out of Blendin's mouth.

Before Blendin could respond, he and his counterpart heard something. It was a cry, but more like a whimper, coming from Blendin's right. He could tell it was young and female.

'Bill-din' walked up to the scared ghost and raised his finger to his lips.

"Shhhhhhhh," Bill whispered. "It is time for the ultimate deception."

Bill began to walk in the direction of the crying. Blendin began to run ahead of him, hoping he could warn whoever it was to get away from the evil creature that now possessed his body.

He 'swam' through the air, as he was no longer a physical being, towards the whimpers. He was surprised to find Mabel Pines, leaning on a tree, rummaging through a bag.

"Mabel! Y-you have to get-t out-t of here!" Blendin called out. She didn't even look up.

"L-listen to me, M-Mabel! It's Blendin, the ti-tme travel guy! This t-triangle named Bill took my b-body and is c-coming this way!" he shouted only from a short distance away. She continued to look through the bag, completely ignoring his words. It was only then Blendin realized that since he wasn't in physical form, she most likely couldn't hear him.

"It's not fair," Mabel whined, setting the bag aside. "I just wish summer could last forever." She pulled her cupcake sweater over her head and sat in silence.

Blendin observed her until he heard something disturbing.

His own voice.

"That might be possible!" chirped 'Blendin' from afar.

* * *

Blendin could only watched as Bill, possessing his body, tried to convince Mabel he could make summer longer as a favor for sparing his life. 'Bill-din' had slipped his goggles back on, so the young girl had no idea she wasn't actually talking to Blendin. Bill promised to Mabel, as Blendin, that he could make the summer longer in exchange for some kind of 'rift' that he had been searching for. Blendin knew that the 'time bubble' Bill referred to was a real thing but that using it in such a scenario would be against every time law in existence.

Mabel began to sift through the bag she brought and strangely, found the 'rift' Bill had projected via Blendin's watch.

"Huh, t-that's… odd," Mabel stated, holding the snow-globe-like object closer to inspect it. "Is this it?"

"Yes, that's it! J-just hand it over, and I'll do my thing!" Bill exclaimed in Blendin's nasally voice. Blendin watched as Mabel stared at the 'rift', contemplating what to do with it.

"Unless you're ready to leave Gravity Falls…" 'Blendin' added, urging Mabel to hand him the glass ball she held in her hands.

Blendin knew that Bill had used him. Because of his new-found friendship with the Pines twins and time-travelling abilities, he was the perfect candidate to propose a deal involving time. But he still didn't know what this 'rift' was or why Bill wanted it so bad in the first place. All he knew was that this creature had possessed his own body to get it and couldn't be trusted under any circumstances. Mabel seemed oblivious to all of Blendin's thoughts however and continued to consider her options.

"Just a little more summer," Mabel finally spoke, finally pushing her hands towards 'Blendin' to give the sphere to him.

"N-no, M-Mabel! D-don't do it-t!" Blendin screamed, forgetting she couldn't hear or see him.

The wind intensified as Mabel stood; waiting for her 'friend' to do something that would encase Gravity Falls in a state of eternal summer. Instead, 'Blendin' dropped the 'rift' intentionally, shattering it and spreading its contents all over the ground.

It was at that point that all hell began to break loose.

* * *

"H-he dr-ropped t-the 'rift', and m-made her unc-conscious," Blendin explained to Dipper in his cracking voice. "A-As soon as B-Bill left my body, I-I went back-k insid-de, but I j-just w-woke up."

Dipper was stunned. Bill had played Blendin just like him, when Bill claimed he could give him the password to the Author's laptop in exchange for a 'puppet'. The result was a destroyed computer, and Mabel having to fight Bill behind the scenes of her 'sock opera'; who had possessed Dipper's body earlier in the day.

Blendin had no idea about the true intentions of Bill. He had never met the demon before and from the story he heard, the triangle had used Blendin's one weakness: his unknown family.

"I-I'm s-sorry, D-Dipper," Blendin quietly said, looking down at the ground in despair.

Dipper could only feel remorse for the way he had treated Blendin when he first woke up. Even though he wished there was a way, there was nothing Blendin could have done to help Mabel. All he could do was watch as the demon convinced the broken girl to take him up on his deal.

Dipper felt the shattered goggles still in his hand. He examined Blendin's face.

Without his goggles, Blendin looked more exposed and guilty than he had ever been in his entire life.

* * *

 **If you didn't understand, my headcanon in Blendin's backstory is that Blendin is future Morty from _Rick and Morty_.**

 **But before any readers abandon this story, you must know that Rick or any other characters won't be written into this. It probably won't even be brought up again through the entire story. I didn't explicitly mention it on purpose so that it can be completely ignored if wanted. It's just a fun reference for me and other R &M fans, as Justin Roiland plays both Blendin and Morty from both shows.**

 **Anyways, who is pumped up for Weird-mageddon? New episode comes out Friday in the States and I will be watching the live stream as always.**

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **-ThatGuy**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello everyone! Sorry for taking so long on this chapter. This week was quite busy for me.**

 **Two things before we start:**

 **The first segment of this chapter is a flashback to one character's POV as Weirdmageddon begins. The second segment continues the end of the previous chapter.**

 **Also, I forgot to give a shout-out to Big-Sister-K on deviantART last chapter, who gave permission for me to use a wonderful piece of art by her as this fic's cover. Completely slipped my mind in mentioning her in the Author's Note.**

 **Plus, I haven't been adding a disclaimer since Chapter 1! What is going on with me?**

 **Anyways, we all know that I don't own Gravity Falls or its characters. Alex Hirsch and Disney does.**

* * *

It was about a quarter past seven. The sun shone its setting red-orange colors while it sank in the distance under the horizon of the valley's peaks. A peaceful lull hovered over the small downtown of Gravity Falls, Oregon.

The town's center had drawn a small, intermediate buzz of activity. It had been a quiet night for Susan Wentworth, who had been serving dinner to the few regular customers at Greasy's Diner. By seven o'clock, the benches and tables were empty and she didn't expect anyone else to arrive for a quick bite. Tourist numbers had already begun to dwindle as the summer season was now winding down.

Wiping down the ketchup-mustard stained tables, she decided that she would close the place early tonight. The diner's owner, Gertrude, had left her in charge of the restaurant while she went to go visit her family in Vancouver, Washington for a few days. Looking out the windows, Susan could see the beautiful orange painted sky out of her one open eye. Folks passed by the diner outside, seeming to enjoy the calm that had swept the town this evening.

She continued her routine of wiping the tables, grill, and setting the kitchen in order for tomorrow morning. The woman was putting away coffee pots when she heard somewhat of a muffled explosion that came from outside. The floor began to rumble and she lost her balance, accidently letting go of the coffee pots she was holding on to. The glass pots shattered as they hit the floor, Susan grabbing onto the counter to keep herself upright while the ground continued to vibrate.

Before she could even guess what was happening, the shaking stopped. She stood in embarrassment, looking down at the glass shards that now lay scattered across the kitchen floor.

She stumbled out of the kitchen and headed towards the door, hoping someone outside could explain what was going on. Some of the windows by the booths were now cracked, while some managed not to split apart in what she thought was an earthquake. But the waitress swore to herself she heard some sort of an explosion before the ground quaked all around her. Whatever had occurred though, Gertrude would not be happy about the broken pots and windows.

She pushed the door outwards, almost falling down as she forgot about the few narrow steps that led to the diner's entrance. She caught herself before she tripped and slowly made her way down the stairs and onto the sidewalk. Susan could feel that a wind had picked up and her surroundings glowed in dark red-orange, much darker than the lighter shade that she saw out the window a short time ago. She could see some people standing by the Gleeful car dealership a few shops over, including the town's two cops. Hoping she could get some information on whatever was going on, the diner worker ran to join the few congregants standing by the car lot.

By the time Susan had joined the group, Mr. Gleeful himself had also stepped out of his office to see what was happening. She was so wrapped up in wanting to ask what was going on that she didn't even notice the anomaly that lay above them.

"What's going on, Sheriff?!" Susan desperately asked the two shell-shocked officers.

Blubbs' answer was interrupted by a sound no one expected.

Laughter rang through the air. The cackling, maniacal laugh stung everyone's ears.

Blubbs took off his sunglasses in horror. All he could muster as a response to the waitress' question was a raised arm, pointing to the sky behind her.

Susan slowly turned in fear, wondering what could be the source of this craziness.

Even when she saw it, she had to raise her lazy eye to make sure she wasn't imagining what was above her.

A giant 'X' shaped rip had torn through the sky and a rotating black pyramid floated at the center. It seemed the pyramid was laughing.

In her fear, all she could speak was one word.

"Wha?!"

* * *

Dipper and Blendin sat in silence. The time traveler had just revealed the story of how the demon that they could hear wreaking havoc on the town of Gravity Falls had tricked him into possessing his body in order to get the Rift from Mabel. Bill had played Blendin using the one thing that he wanted to know the truth about so badly: his family.

The triangle had only one gift; which was using people's emotions and secrets to get what he wanted. He used Blendin's family to possess his body, and then used Mabel's desire of a longer summer to get the Rift and become a physical form. The young man could only look down in guilt, knowing that it was his selfish actions that put this dimension on the path to destruction.

The blast of energy that made the rip in the sky grew extinguished. Both could now see the shattered glass and base of the Rift's containment unit.

"Blendin, I-I," Dipper began to speak. Deep down, he knew nothing he could say would make the situation better.

"I-I'm sorry about what happened," was all Dipper could finish his sentence with. While Blendin thought the end of the world was his fault, the boy couldn't disagree more with that opinion.

It was his own fault.

He had accepted Ford's apprenticeship before he even got home this evening. Why had he accepted so quickly? Sure, he had thought about it through the afternoon, but he didn't even ask for Mabel's thoughts on the topic. He guessed it must have been the high of showing no fear to the alien probe to save his great-uncle. Ford said that this town brought them together for a 'purpose', as he called it. He even remembered what Stanford was going to say before he grabbed his hand to accept.

"Don't let anyone hold you-" was Stanford's comment just before he coughed and his nephew accepted.

Ford thought it was Mabel that was holding his 'wannabe' apprentice back. Ford didn't know it was because of her that he was back home. Ford had even called being around Mabel 'suffocating'.

It was that last comment really started to piss Dipper off every time he remembered it.

"Um, Dipper?" Blendin questioned, interrupting the 12 year-old's thoughts.

"Yeah, Blendin?" Dipper responded.

"W-why is Mabel floating?!" Blendin asked in fear, pointing behind the thinking boy.

Dipper spun around to see what Blendin was talking about. He had left Mabel against a tree a few minutes ago to go and confront the dazed time traveler. Well, she was no longer leaning on the tree.

Mabel was now floating a few feet off the ground, still unconscious. The girl seemed to be lifted by a pink-glowing force. She was gaining altitude every second that passed.

"MABEL!" Dipper screamed, scrambling to his feet to try and bring her back down. By the time he arrived, she was just above Dipper's height. He jumped and was able to grab her lower leg, near her foot. Her progress slowed down a bit, but she continued to hover higher. He didn't want to let go, yet his weight didn't seem to be doing anything to stop her from rising. Amidst the chaos between Dipper and his floating sister, Blendin stood below in confusion, wondering what to do.

"Dipper! I'm going t-to get help-p!" Blendin exclaimed from below, turning to his watch. "G-guys, we've got a situation!" the time traveler yelled into his watch before dissipating into the air.

Dipper grunted in frustration while struggling to hold onto his twin's leg as they rose higher. His hold was slipping and he was at least 20 feet in the air now. In desperation, he spotted a tree a few feet away with a thick branch coming up above him.

He began to swing himself, jerking the two closer to the branch. The boy was planning to snag Mabel's foot underneath a branch to stop her from rising any higher. What he wasn't planning for was a barrier to form around her and separate his hand from her leg. But he was soon faced with the latter.

The pink force that caused Mabel to start floating now began to surround her in a sphere. Once it fully encased the girl, it began to contract, causing Dipper's hand to be separated from her leg. Knowing he was about to lose his grip, Dipper jumped mid-air towards the tree he planned to use before, hoping he could grab a branch.

Dipper screamed as he fell towards the tree he aimed for. Sadly, he wasn't able to grab anything as he plummeted through the twigs and weak branches. His fall was delayed by the branches he broke through but he still landed hard on his back just at the foot of the same tree he set Mabel beside earlier.

He struggled to get to his feet after such a hard fall. Ten seconds passed before Dipper regained enough strength to crawl out under the tree and look at the bubble that contained Mabel. He could only see her silhouette through the pink shell. A shooting star symbol appeared on the bubble before being locked up by chains that came out of nowhere.

Dipper sniffled in hopelessness, realizing he had a bloody nose as of result of a few branches to the face. As he began to shed tears, he heard a voice calling from farther within the forest.

"Dipper! Mabel! Where are you?!" the gruff voice howled from a distance. Dipper could recognize that voice anywhere.

It was Grunkle Stan.

"Stan! Over here!" Dipper called back, hoping his great-uncle would be able to pick up his reply. A few moments passed before Dipper could finally make out the figure dashing through the trees.

Dipper growled to himself as he tried to get to his feet. The figure behind the trees came out of the forest and into the clearing.

Stan's face was a mix of horror and worry until he saw him, groaning to stand up. Stan ran over to him and pulled him into an embrace that Dipper had never felt from Grunkle Stan before. He and Stan never really hugged much over the time they'd spent together. The only time that they had done that was when he and Mabel saved Stan from Bill, after the demon was unsuccessful in getting the code to the safe that contained the Mystery Shack's deed.

In the Dreamscape, Dipper had seen through one of the memory doors why Stan was so hard on him throughout the summer. He wanted him to toughen up, just like his father did when he was younger. It was that event that gave Dipper the appreciation for Stan that he never had at the beginning of his and Mabel's stay in Oregon. The hug itself wasn't much either, more of a one-sided embrace on Dipper's part.

But now, Stan was almost tearing up into his shoulder as he pulled him tighter. Stan choked as he tried to talk to him.

"K-Kid, thank God you're alright! Where's your sister?!" Stanley said, finally pulling himself away from Dipper to look around the clearing.

Dipper looked straight into his great-uncle's pleading eyes. He really didn't want to answer the question. But he raised his hand towards the sky above them' pointing his finger to the floating orb that was now moving away from the two of them.

Stan gazed at the sight and watched as the shooting star emblazed sphere strolled out of view. He looked back down to Dipper, who struggled to remain calm while his twin sister became trapped and taken away.

"Let's get back to the Shack," Stanley said, giving his hand to help the boy stand up. Dipper ignored the gesture and continued to watch the empty sky where the bubble used to be. Stanley grabbed Dipper's shoulder to face him.

"Dipper, we will get Mabel back," Stan vowed; trying to not sound angry. "I swear my life on it."

Dipper stared back for a moment before taking his great-uncle's hand, while groaning as his leg muscles stretched to help him stand on his feet.

He straightened his now dirty pine-tree ball cap and nodded at Stan to agree. The man gave a weak grin and patted his nephew on the back while they walked out of the clearing.

"We need to be careful heading back to the Mystery Shack," Stan warned.

"Why?" Dipper asked.

"A giant goat almost stepped on me coming out here," Stanley explained. "You don't want to know the rest."

* * *

 **I might be trying to incorporate some references to the actual Weirdmageddon story-arc, nothing major though (little things like Gompers almost stepping on Grunkle Stan). I hope my creativity is strong, because I don't want to steal actual plot-points of the real show.**

 **-ThatGuy**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello readers! I'm back with the next chapter. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

The journey back to the Shack seemed to take much longer than Dipper thought it would. He and Stan paced through the forest, trying to avoid the strange oddities that the latter had encountered on his way here. His great-uncle claimed that he was almost squished under the hoof of a giant goat, as well as run into the pine-tree that was literally walking through the woods. Only Bill could unleash that kind of weirdness. Their lack of conversation made their venture quite awkward as the faded screaming and groaning echoed from the town into the forest. Neither of them could come up with anything to say to improve the gloomy atmosphere and mood. No talk allowed Dipper's mind to go crazy with his usual thoughts, opinions, and ideas. At the moment, Dipper was reflecting on how he never expected something of this magnitude to occur on his summer vacation.

When he and Mabel first got word of their parents' intentions to send them away for the summer, he had begged to stay behind in Piedmont. He didn't want to stay with some distant relative that he had never actually met. According to his parents, their great-uncle 'Stanford' had come down to California when they were born, but hadn't seen them since.

"Sounds like a 'great' great-uncle," was something Dipper had muttered hearing this back in June.

The added fact that he owned a tourist shop gave Dipper the impression that this was going to be one 'odd' relative.

Mabel, on the other hand, tried to stay positive about the whole situation, which is what she always did. She claimed it would be the perfect opportunity to have a 'perfect summer romance'. Dipper appreciated that side of his sister because he knew he was going to need that glimmer of hope beside him at all times. He was the pessimist, while his twin was the optimist. He preferred optimism.

At first glance, the town of Gravity Falls seemed like any other stereotypical Pacific Northwest hamlet. Totem poles, odd townsfolk, and trees engulfed the whole area. By the end of their first full day there, Dipper was sure that this summer would be nothing but boredom, living in the attic of Stanford's tourist trap. Mabel had tried to cheer him up, but her positivity was starting to become stale. Rolling down grassy hills wasn't going to be enough to keep his frustration at bay.

He actually hoped for something to happen that might make the stay in 'Smalltown', Oregon, more tolerable, more exciting.

The journal was exactly the type of thing he wanted to cease his distaste for the summer at first. Entries filled with detailing of strange creatures littered the pages. The ink-sketched paper screamed questions. Dipper loved mysteries. Within a few days, the book led him and Mabel to the conclusion that where they were staying wasn't a normal town in any circumstance. Tiny, talking gnomes inhabited the forest around them. They could join forces to construct a giant gnome-monster. But he and his sister found a weakness the book didn't know of: leaf blowers.

The weeks rolled by as Dipper's obsession of the town and the journal's author became his life. From fractional presidents to clone-making copy machines to underground dinosaurs, his adventures with Mabel in limits of Gravity Falls were becoming the highlight of his life. But not everything was fun and games regarding the journal.

The book had one warning about the place he and his sister were stuck in.

"Trust no one."

The written caution made Dipper look and think twice about folks residing in the Northwestern hallow. Not before long though, he had a trio of trustworthy people he could talk to: Mabel, Soos, and Wendy. Also, his escapades uncovering the mysteries of Gravity Falls had put him in many life or death situations by the end of July. He had done things like exploring the consciousness of his great-uncle to jumping off a cliff onto a giant-size robot. He never expected to be sucked into situations like these when he discovered the dusty book hid in the forest.

He never expected for the end of the world to be upon him either.

Should he have left the journal alone? Without it, he and Mabel would have never found out about the truth regarding their great- _uncles_ Stanford and Stanley. Would it have even mattered? Was he a pawn in Bill's destruction of the world, no matter what he did?

His jittering mind was brought to a halt though when he spotted the trees in front of him starting to thin out. They were almost home.

* * *

Dipper felt some reassurance in seeing the Mystery Shack again. The building still stood as it did with its flaky shingles and tin sheets for a roof and question mark signs scattered around the property. The red 'S' remained on the roof, off the wooden board holding the letters supposed to spell out 'SHACK'. Grammatically, he lived in the 'Mystery Hack'. The old house comforted him in that he was no longer out in the forest by himself. He wouldn't be alone in trying to take down Bill. Stanley and Stanford would be by his side, no matter what happened.

He and Stan opened the door to enter the gift shop. It seemed to be intact; knick-knacks and t-shirts still settled on shelves and clothing racks. None of the merchandise had grown eyes or limbs. Dipper knew the reason why.

The unicorn hair that Mabel had procured was working as a shield for the Shack against Bill. The demon wasn't able to access anyone in the house, so his weirdness spell was being blocked too.

"Good thing nothing in here is alive," Stan sighed. "I didn't want to break out the baseball bat again."

Dipper smirked at his great-uncle's comment as they walked to the 'employees only' curtain. Somehow amidst all the chaos and destruction, Stan was still able to crack a joke. He wasn't sure if he could do the same, considering everything that had just developed in the past hour. They went past the curtain, going into the living room. The seat and TV remained in place like always. But something new could be seen and smelled.

Smoke was slowly gushing into the room from the kitchen.

* * *

Stan grunted in frustration when he found the pancakes he had been making earlier burned to a crisp. He had shaped the pancakes into letters, planning to give everyone the first letter of their name. While nothing had caught fire, the supper he was putting his heart and soul into was no longer edible. He shut off the stove and grabbed a tea-towel, beginning to wave the smoke out of the house through the window. The smoke itself wasn't very thick but there was enough to give him and Dipper a coughing fit. It was moments like these when Stan regretted not keeping the building up to code while he lived in it. A smoke alarm would have been nice.

While he struggled to disperse the smoke, he could hear the vending machine open and close back in the gift shop. He began to wave harder in anger, realizing his brother was here the whole time. When he dashed into the forest looking for his great-nephew and niece earlier, Ford had gone back inside and cowered in the basement. He could hear footsteps and a voice nearing the kitchen.

"Stanley! While you were gone, I devised a plan to-"

Ford wasn't even asking if he needed help. He wasn't apologizing for his assumption about Mabel. He wasn't even asking if he had found Mabel. He was gushing over a plan to save the world.

Stan was so sick of his brother. He tightened his grip on the tea-towel and waved harder than ever. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out Ford's prideful exuberance over his plan to save mankind. But nothing was working. So out of pure anger and frustration, he turned around a delivered something no one in the room expected: a punch.

* * *

Dipper couldn't believe what had just played out in front of him. Stan's outburst was quite sudden; he screamed in frustration while sending his clenched fist directly into Ford's right cheek. Stanford stumbled back easily, falling to the floor. Tension in the room was at an all-time high. The boy kept quiet, as he was so taken aback by what had happened. No sound was audible except Ford's groans. Even the cries from downtown couldn't be heard anymore.

Ford grumbled as he pulled himself up to face Stan. His face of determination and glee from revealing his plan was now gone. He now had an expression of anger and bitterness. He stood on his feet, before exploding at Stanley.

"What in the name of all Heck was that for, Stanley?!" Ford demanded, clutching his cheek. Stan remained still. He didn't show any regret or happiness over what he had done. He kept an emotionless face.

" _That_ was for your _thank you_ after I brought you back here," Stan explained. Dipper called back to memory the first thing Ford did after coming through the portal: he punched Stan, calling his rescue a risky move. Stanley paused before speaking again.

"And _this_ is for messing with my family." Stan added, dropping the tea-towel out of his hand. He then brought up his left arm and sent his left fist into Ford's other cheek.

* * *

 **Ooooo, we got ourselves a Grunkle fight next time!**

 **Also, November 23rd is almost two weeks away! Weirdmageddon Part Deux: Escape From Reality is coming!**

 **-ThatGuy**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for taking awhile for this chapter. I was pretty busy with school and other activities. My goal is to update once a week.**

 **Anyways, the fight awaits! I mean, the chapter awaits!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own GF or its characters. They're owned by Alex Hirsch and Disney.**

* * *

While Stanford never expected the first punch from his brother, he saw the second one a mile away. He ducked out of Stanley's swinging fist just in time to avoid contact. Stanley's momentum of force from the missed strike sent him stumbling forward towards a crouched Ford. Ford took advantage of his brother's miss and slammed his shoulders into Stan's knees, tumbling him to the ground. All Dipper could do was watch in horror as his two Grunkles began clawing at each other, eventually moving their duel into the gift shop. The 12 year-old attempted to calm down the warring brothers.

"Hey, g-guys? Time to stop now, alright? Grunkle Stan? Ford?"

None of his words were heard by the two twins. They continued to throw jabs at each other, creating several holes in the thin wooden walls from missed shots. The brothers moved through the aisles of the shop, pushing over a variety of items to the ground. And just when Dipper thought it couldn't get worse between the two, the fire became a blaze.

When Stanley got Ford against a wall beside a shelf holding novelty snow globes, Ford didn't hesitate to grab a globe and jam it at Stan's head. Stan yelped and fell backwards into the shelf behind him, knocking the structure down. Ford felt he had the upper hand and readied himself to pounce on his brother. But in a last ditch effort, Stanley grabbed a piece of merchandise behind him and chucked it at Stanford's temple. He was lucky. A coffee mug smashed against Ford's forehead, stopping him from tackling a defenseless Stan.

With a globe and mug thrown, anything was game now. With new energy, Stan stood up and seized Ford by his collar before he could react. Stanley eyed something across the room. He began to run, holding Ford's head in lock in front of him. Looking up, Stanford realized what his brother was going to do.

They were heading straight towards the vending machine. Dipper could see the impending result.

"Grunkle Stan, no!" Dipper yelled.

Stuck in his brother's grip, Ford knew what was coming. He was about to go head first into the glass. But he realized that if he was going to get a face full of glass, his twin might have some as well. From behind his back, Ford snagged Stan's neck just as he let him go. The momentum Stan had built up with a running start carried them both into their reflections in the glass.

The machine's window shattered. The two brothers collapsed onto the floor. Dipper gasped. Trickles of blood stained the wooden floor. They both breathed heavily, trying to relief the pain from their throbbing cut-ridden heads. Glass shards lay on top, beneath, and around them. They were done.

But to Dipper's complete shock, they got back up. It took some time though; groaning filled the room while they struggled to get to their feet. The men tried to avoid the shards, but the sharp glass made more cuts on their hands and arms. Stanford and Stanley eyed each other in anger, the pain of their wounds fueling their hatred. But before they could go at it again, Dipper got between them.

"STOP IT!" Dipper demanded, lowering their raised fists. "Stop fighting! This isn't making anything better! Look around!"

The twins listened to their great-nephew's words and took in their surroundings. He was right. Their brawl certainly didn't make the situation better. Instead, the gift shop was now in complete disarray. Holes punctured the walls. Broken merchandise lay all over the floor. Fallen shelves and cases leaned against one another. It was as if a tornado had ripped through the room.

The two brothers sighed in realization of the effects of their fight but the anger between them wasn't suppressed. Stan was the first to speak.

"We had an agreement, Ford. Stay away from the kids, and I'll give you back your life. But you just couldn't keep all your science crap to yourself, could ya?!" Stan accused.

"Hey, as I remember correctly, you've _let_ Dipper hang out with me for the past couple weeks! If you wanted to keep him out of my 'crap', why didn't you do it yourself?!" Ford retorted.

Accusations flew wild. How the name Stanford Pines was riddled with a notorious criminal record and was unusable to Ford. How Mabel's disappearance was Stanford's fault. The insults and allegations went back and forth. Dipper watched as his great-uncles threw verbal punches at each other. It wasn't as bad as seeing them fight earlier but some of the comments that were made were quite hurtful and offensive. Eventually, Ford brought his hand to his head to wipe the blood off his forehead. Upon seeing how bad he was bleeding, he began to input the secret code into the vending machine's keypad.

"Fine, Stanley. It's the end of the world and you want to rescue a goner," Ford snorted. Dipper's rage grew within him. Grunkle Ford still thought Mabel was dead. "Go right ahead. See how well you do without me."

He slammed the machine back into place as he said that last sentence, leaving Stan and Dipper in the wrecked gift shop. The metallic clap echoed in the room before fading to silence. Stan growled in anger.

"Alright, sixer! We'll get back your great-niece by ourselves! We don't need any help!" Stan shouted at the vending machine. Dipper doubted Ford heard the comment; he was probably already in the elevator.

Dipper looked down to his shoes. The likelihood that his great-uncles would work together was at an all-time low. Hatred bubbled through his body as Ford's words came back to mind.

"…and you want to rescue a goner."

Why did he think that Mabel was dead? Why did he call being around her 'suffocating'?

Stan nudged Dipper, making him look back up. The determination Stan possessed a few seconds ago had disappeared. Dejection filled his face.

"I'm gonna…. fix up some dinner," Stan sighed. It seemed like even Stan knew that getting Mabel back was impossible without Stanford. He trudged over to the employee exit and left the room.

Dipper looked around. He was alone in the gift shop. _Alone._

His great-uncles had deserted him. He felt like he was back in the forest, watching as the bubble that encased Mabel faded out of his view.

He lugged himself to the counter where the cash register sat. He pushed a barrel aside and sat down, leaning against the wooden side of the desk. He brought his knees close to his chest and lowered his hat. He did this to make sure that no one that came in could see the tears that streamed down his face.

* * *

It wasn't long before Stan called him for supper. He wiped his face with his shirt and tried to recompose himself so Grunkle Stan didn't know what he had been doing. Coming through the door, he could still smell the remnants of smoke from the burning pancakes from earlier.

Dipper was surprised to see that Stan had stuck with pancakes. A stack of them stood in the center of the table. Stan sat in his chair at the table, pouring syrup on his plate. Upon first glance, it appeared to Dipper that his Grunkle hadn't bothered treating his cuts on his forehead. His hands were a different story. From the gift shop, Dipper had heard his great-uncle swear in pain when he washed his hands. Both of them were now wrapped in medical tape from top to bottom.

"Well, are you gonna stand there all-day or eat?" Stan questioned. Dipper realized he had been standing there, staring at him for an awkward amount of time. He dashed to the table where a plate sat opposite to Stan with a pair of pancakes waited him.

The dinner was probably the most awkward Dipper had ever had. It was just him and Stan. No Mabel. No Stanford. Because of his space-out earlier, he kept minimal eye contact with Grunkle Stan. The only sound out of their meal was the clinking of rusty forks against the old scratched china Stan used. The pancakes were quite good but the events of the past hour sucked the joy out of the delicious flapjacks.

Within ten minutes, he found himself twiddling his dull butter knife. He had lost his appetite. Across the table, it was clear Stan wasn't very hungry either. He stared down at his plate, lost in his distorted reflection in a puddle of syrup. Looking back up, Stan found Dipper staring right at him. Dipper quickly diverted his attention away to Stan but it didn't go unnoticed.

"You can go, Dipper," Stan insisted, starting to pick up his plate and head towards the sink.

"You sure?" Dipper asked.

"Yeah, just don't go outside," Stan warned. "We are not leaving the Shack without a plan."

* * *

When Dipper checked the time, he was quite astonished to see how late it was. The clock in the upstairs hallway told him it was almost 11pm. It didn't feel like that at all. The adrenaline and anxiety from what had transpired in the past hours had left him attentive but not tired. Also, 'Weirdmageddon' had left the sun stuck on the horizon, leaving the town cemented in an eternal evening setting. Lying down in bed, Dipper knew the light was going to make it harder to sleep. That wasn't even accounting the emotional tragedy that he knew would haunt him for the whole night.

He tried putting some old woolly blankets that were kept in the attic on top of his head, hoping the extra layers would block out the light. He couldn't stand the itch the blankets gave his skin. Pillows didn't work either; they just felt too heavy and uncomfortable sitting over his eyes. Knowing that sleep was impossible for now, he looked for distractions to get him to fall asleep. He tried reading and listening to music, but neither seemed to tire him. During this time, he heard Grunkle Stan pass by the attic stairway. He assumed his Grunkle was off to bed as well. Not long after, Dipper heard the vending machine open downstairs. Stanford had finally come back after his fight with Stanley.

Coming down the stairs to see what Stanford was up to, Dipper could pick up on the fridge's creaking door and the clatter of silverware. From the noise, he could tell Ford was grabbing the leftover pancakes from supper. He peeked his head over the railing, getting a partial view of the kitchen. From his vantage point, Dipper saw Ford walking towards him, munching on the cold flapjacks. He quickly pulled his head back before Stanford saw him and backed up the stairs silently. Ford passed by the stairs, completely oblivious to his spying grand-nephew. He marched into the living room. About ten seconds passed before Dipper heard the vending machine's pad chime a couple times. A metallic clap echoed just after.

Dipper climbed back up the stairs and went to his room. He sat on the bed, wondering how his bitter great-uncles would ever work together. After a few minutes, he settled on a plan. It was almost midnight but the preteen ignored the time.

The soon-to-be 13 year-old grabbed the bag that Mabel accidentally took with her into the forest with the Rift. He snatched Journal #3 from under his pillow. Tossing it into the bag, he found the other matching sack and took the walkie-talkie that was inside. Out of the attic, he passed by his Grunkle Stan's room. Putting his ear to the door, he could hear snoring on the other side. He took one of the walkies and put in on the side table right outside his door. If anything happened to him during his trip, he just hoped his Grunkle could hear his calls for help and save him. Then again, if Stan did find out what he was up to, he would be dead anyways.

Dipper descended down the stairs in silence. He dashed through the living room and gift shop and opened the front door. He looked behind him, making sure that no one saw him.

He snuck out the Shack and closed the door behind him. Once the entrance clicked shut, Dipper ventured out into the apocalypse. He wondered what Bill had done to the town he had come to love.

* * *

 **I wonder how Dipper will take seeing the wasteland Gravity Falls has become under Bill's reign of weirdness...**

 **-ThatGuy**


	7. Chapter 7

**It seems like just yesterday was the premiere of Weirdmageddon Part I. I've included my overall thoughts on the episode and Alex's recent announcement at the end of the chapter.**

 **Hope you enjoy Chapter 7!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Gravity Falls. Alex Hirsch and Disney does.**

* * *

Dipper walked down the dusty dirt road that would eventually lead to town. The light that shone from the suspended sun made him squint his eyes since he wasn't used to the brightness at this time. He knew the path well; it would take him about three minutes to reach civilization. He and Mabel had ventured this way many times before. In their first days here when Stan was busy giving tours in the Shack, they liked to explore the businesses and places Gravity Falls had to offer. However, he didn't plan to take the same route this time. He trekked down the road for about a minute before changing directions. He swiftly turned right, heading into the forest that surrounded the town. After another minute, a fence began to form to his left. The metal spikes enclosed the town cemetery. He stopped his progress and looked through the barrier.

Clusters of decaying corpses drudged slowly through the yard. They looked very similar to the ones he, Mabel, and Stan fought one night earlier this summer. The undead didn't notice Dipper, who was silently watching through the fence from a distance. The boy recognized the cemetery was only the beginning. 'Weirdmageddon' was in full swing. Knowing Bill, the town's condition was going to be a lot worse. He also knew the forest was probably afoot with weirdness too. The 12 year-old regained his focus and continued hiking through the trees. Within yards, the arrow wall ended. He took a few more steps than changed directions again. He swung to his left and kept on walking. Every step he took, the sound of smashing windows, car alarms, and party music grew.

From exploring the forest around the Mystery Shack and studying maps, Dipper had become an expert on the geography of Gravity Falls. Better than some citizens, ironically. If he was correct, a wooden fence would be in his sight in a few moments. Rotting oak slats became visible ahead. He grinned. Once he reached the fence, he began to kick at the old wood. It only took a few kicks before he broke through. Separating the split slats with his hands, he now had a way through. He ducked his head and wriggled through the aging fence. He stood in the small parking lot of the Gravity Falls Tourism Office. Rolling behind a parked van, Dipper peeked his head out to see if anyone was around.

Giant colored bubbles floated around the street. He wondered if people were trapped in them, similarly to how Mabel was captured in one. But none of the spheres showed any symbols on them like his sister's. Scanning the avenue, Dipper finally saw his destination, Gravity Falls' only church: Faith Baptist Church.

Just as he was about to make a move, the ground beneath his feet began to rumble. He looked around, trying to find the source of the shaking. He became tense when he felt a hot wind to his back, almost like someone was _breathing_ on him. Dipper turned to face his adversary. He was met with a giant, blinking eye. The Shack's friendly goat, as Mabel called him 'Gompers', towered over him. The animal was now about forty feet tall. His Grunkle Stan wasn't kidding when he said he almost got squished by a goat trying to find him and his sister. The creature stared blankly at Dipper. A familiar noise rang through the boy's ears.

" _Baaaaaaaaaaaa._ "

Dipper ran as fast as his wimpy feet could carry him. He bolted across the barren street, avoiding the bubbles that littered the avenue. He didn't look back until he reached the church door. He was surprised to see Gompers' attention already diverted elsewhere. The goat was now distracting by a yellow bubble floating by his head. The animal stuck his face into the sphere. Instead of popping, the bubble remained intact while the goat pierced its side. The creature jerked back its head almost immediately, going into a frenzy. It started to run in fear, trotting down the boulevard. Dipper watched as the goat stepped on a multitude of cars before reaching the treeline. From there, Gompers plowed through the tiny trees that blocked his path. It took the 12 year-old a few seconds to process what just occurred in front of him. From the cemetery to the goat, he could tell that the town was literally, crumbling before his eyes. Taking deep breaths to calm down, he pulled open the chapel's side door.

Dipper had never been inside the church before. Grunkle Stan wasn't a religious person, so he and Mabel never attended any services during the summer. His parents weren't religious or anti-religious. They just had never really thought that much about that sort of stuff. As a family, they still celebrated holidays like Christmas and Easter. When it came to his own beliefs, Dipper would admit he believed in some sort of a higher power, nothing more than that. But now, he wasn't sure what to believe in, considering that a triangular demon had taken over a small town in Oregon. The entrance Dipper came through put him to the side of the front of the sanctuary. Uncomfortable-looking wooden pews sat on both sides of the room. Three stained-glass windows were arranged on both side walls. An altar with a vase of flowers was parked in the front. A furnished baptismal font stood to his right. Taking in his surroundings, Dipper realized there was someone sitting head-down in the back pew. As he moved up the center aisle to get a closer look, he could hear what he thought were prayers.

"…brought this upon us! Why would you send a triangle to kill us all?! Please, your servant Toot Toot begs for forgiveness in this matter! He didn't know leaving to play banjo for others would make you angry! I ask for mercy…"

Dipper knew this person. It was Blind Ivan, the man who headed the Society of the Blind Eye. He was the one who tried to wipe his, Mabel's, Wendy's, and Soos' memories after they discovered the secret organization. Through that entire experience, the group came to know the reason of Old Man McGucket's insanity and that he used to work with the Author of the Journals. After they had erased every member's memories of the Society, Mabel had given Ivan a new name and purpose in life. He was now a travelling banjo player by the name of 'Toot Toot McBumbersnazzle'.

Ivan was so wrapped up in his pleads, he didn't notice Dipper at all as he passed by him. Dipper thought about asking the desperate guy what horrors Bill had done to the town. But he decided that he could see for himself. That was his whole reason for coming out here anyways. He ignored the praying man and took his search into the narthex. He was looking for some sort of stairwell that would lead to the bell tower of the church. He opened a closet and prayer room before finding a narrow door that contained rickety steps upwards. Dipper rushed up the stairs, not hesitating to notice how rotten the wooden steps were. Midway up the tower, the weight of his dashing foot split a stair. He caught himself by grabbing onto the fortunately solid railing. From then on, he took his journey up the stairs slowly, making sure he didn't put too much of a burden on the moldy planks.

It didn't take long before he reached the top. The stairs ended on a small platform, with a rusty bell hanging in the center. A rope dangled limply beside the bell, asking to be pulled. Dipper turned his attention to the closed shutters. The church happened to face the town's busiest street, which was in the middle of town. If there was any place to survey damage, a view from here was it. The boy pushed the covers open, revealing the heart of Gravity Falls. He gasped at what he saw.

Downtown was a mess. Inanimate objects were running up and down the street. A strolling fire hydrant was spraying water at the few lingering people stranded outside. The helpless citizens scrambled in fear, looking for anything place still standing to take shelter in. About a mile away, the silhouette of the water tower could be seen, moving across the landscape. Above it all, a jumbled black pyramid hovered below the inter-dimensional rip. The entire town was in chaos. Taking in the whole anarchic scene, Dipper's shock soared at every eye-opening sight. Bill had won. Party music radiated faintly from the floating pyramid. The end of the world was upon him and Gravity Falls. The boy didn't exactly know where the triangle was now, but he had to assume the structure in the sky was 'Weirdmageddon' Central. Was Mabel in Bill's castle of sorts?

Dipper didn't plan to stay up here for long. He only wanted to inspect the damage Bill had inflicted on the town; there was no way he could face him alone. Whether it was Stanford or Stanley, he needed one of them to join him in his rescue mission. After a few minutes of observation, he closed the shutters of the tower and carefully ambled down the stairs. He made sure to skip over the one he broke earlier. He walked out the front door of the church instead of the side. He didn't want to disturb Ivan if he was still there. Right outside was where the town's famous statue of Nathaniel Northwest stood in its glory. Or what was left of it. The posing figure had been reduced to a melted puddle of bronze. Beside the statue's pedestal was a man groaning in pain on the ground. Dipper approached him, hoping he could try to bring him somewhere safe. Coming closer, the man turned to see him. Dipper flinched and screamed at the sight before him.

It was Preston Northwest, Pacifica's father, a descendant of Gravity Falls' _'supposed'_ founder. The suit he wore made Dipper wonder why he didn't recognize him from afar. But when he saw his face, he honestly almost needed a new pair of pants. The image was almost like someone had completely removed all the functions of his head and rearranged them in their own sick, twisted dream. Ears opened at where his eyes should have been, his nose stuck out the side of his head, and an eyeball popped out his mouth and the other side of his head. The man sounded muzzled as he tried to wave his hands in frustration, like he didn't want Dipper to see him. He struggled to get to his feet, eventually crawling as fast as he could away from the boy.

Dipper watched as the man scampered into the church, trying to hide from him. He sighed in defeat, knowing he really couldn't do anything for him. He wondered where Mrs. Northwest and Pacifica were now. Keeping himself in deep thought, he started to head back to the Shack. He paid close attention to his surroundings to make sure he wasn't attacked or ambushed by Bill's handiwork. In a hop, skip, and a jump, he was back at the Mystery Shack. He passed by the cemetery again, but didn't pause to admire the sluggish zombies again. Seeing what had become of the town he lived in for the past few months had shaken him. He tried to put the images aside, but they continued to pop back in his head.

Dipper turned the knob of the front door and nudged it forward quietly, hoping not to cause a racket at 1 AM in the morning. He cringed as the door creaked loudly as it moved less than an inch. Knowing opening it slowly would create more noise than he wanted, he pushed it enough for him to slide inside and closed it hastily. He locked the door and bounded the stairs, making sure his footsteps were silent. As he reached the second level, he heard static coming from the walkie-talkie he left outside Stan's room. He promptly ran around the corner, hoping Stan hadn't heard it. He found the device still on the side table beside the door to his great-uncle's bedroom. Turning it off, he found that his walkie-talkie's talk button had gotten jammed again like when Mabel overheard his conversation with Ford regarding his apprenticeship offer. He peeked into the room, finding Stan snoring loudly underneath the covers of his bed. He sighed in relief and took off to the attic. He yawned as he was finally starting to feel tired.

Using blankets, he created a canopy over his bed that helped black out the daylight from outside. He closed his eyes and took to his thoughts. He _was_ going to rescue Mabel. With or without his great-uncles' help.

* * *

 **So, I'll start with Alex's announcement last week. I was quite sad to hear the news that _Gravity Falls_ would not be continuing after this season. I have been an avid fan since the very beginning in 2012. I'm very glad however that this was Alex's decision, in that he always planned to end the series after Season 2. Disney XD was also in the right to respect this creative choice and not order more episodes (it would be tempting since GF has brought in DXD's highest ratings ever and is their most popular show on the air right now). Part III will officially air sometime in 2016; I'm thinking a January release.**

 **From me personally, thank you Alex. You and your team put your heart and soul into this production for four straight years. You also dealt with Disney's terrible scheduling. The premiere of Part III will be a sad day, but it will be a good day.**

 **In regards to Part II (which aired today, November 23rd, 2015): I found it very funny and heartwarming. The idea of the bubble being Mabel's "fantasyland" was perfect for showing the wackiness and quirkiness of her personality. From the return of Xyler and Craz to 'Dippy Fresh', this episode was beaming with hilarity. Jon Stewart guest-starring as the judge cat was perfect (I am a fan of the Stewart-era 'Daily Show'). However, I felt that Bill's subplot in realizing the town is 'Under the Dome' (see what I did there?) was not given enough screen-time. We are never given a reason why this is and are left to ask ourselves the question until Part III next year. I found Dipper's speech regarding growing up very true and powerful. The flashbacks to Grades 2 & 4 help sink in the fact how inseparable our two main characters are. They're gonna need each other more than ever in the Series Finale.**

 **I guess that's all for now. See you soon.**

 **-ThatGuy**


	8. Chapter 8

**Well, it's been awhile hasn't it? Now that school is finally out, I've been putting a lot of time into this chapter. Hope you guys enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own _Gravity Falls_. It is owned by Alex Hirsch and Disney.**

* * *

Dipper moved his hand to his face slowly, squinting to block out the light that entered his eyes. The blankets he had set up to protect him from the still daylight had fallen during the 'night'. He groaned as he pulled one off the floor and to his head. He felt like a vampire, clawing for something to shield him from the light. Taking a few seconds to recuperate, he rubbed his eyes and began adjusting his eyes to the light. He moved his legs to his left, trying to sit up. He stretched his arms and gave a loud yawn. The boy stumbled as he took his first steps out of bed. It was almost as if his legs had become 'noodle-like', akin to his arms. Exiting the attic and entering the hallway, he glanced at the clock standing in the corner.

It was a quarter to 12.

He was surprised. Dipper knew it was past 2 AM when he fell asleep this morning but he didn't expect to sleep in this late. Sure, he did like to sleep in during the summer; he didn't like to be pulled out of bed by Mabel early in the morning. But he wasn't the type of person to stay in bed until the afternoon. Dipper wasn't even sure if Grunkle Stan had even attempted to wake him up.

Quite confused, Dipper rushed downstairs to see if anyone was there. He poked his head into the kitchen and living room. No one was there. Same with the gift shop; the only difference was the chaotic mess Stanford and Stanley's scuffle had left. Stepping over the debris all over the floor, Dipper approached the shop exit. In the window, Stan could be seen moving in and out of frame. Upon opening the door, Dipper saw his great-uncle facing away, bending over to pick something up off the porch. Stanley gave a bitter sigh.

"Ford. You think coming out of your hiding-hole changes anything?" Stan grunted.

"Um, Grunkle Stan?"

Stan quickly turned around and red at the same time. "Oh, Dipper. Didn't realize you were awake."

His nephew looked past him and towards whatever he had been devoting his attention to earlier. A backpack lay on the wooden floor. Stan had just closed its zipper.

"What… are you doing?" Dipper asked curiously.

"I'm going into town to look for any sign of Mabel or the bubble from earlier. Or survivors if there are any. You're staying here," Stan stated, kneeling to try and close the backpack.

"Wait, you mean I'm _staying_ here?!" Dipper furiously replied.

"Look kid, I'm not going to risk losing you too. I'll only be gone for a few hours. This backpack has some provisions for me."

"Before you and I came back here, you said 'we' would find Mabel. Not just you or me. WE," Dipper pointed out. After all the heck he had been through this summer, Dipper was beyond angry that Stan wouldn't let him come with to find his sister.

"Do you want me to explain to your parents how both of you died while in my care?!" Stan shouted. His face pleaded for Dipper's understanding. Losing Mabel was heartbreaking to Stanley. Losing Dipper would probably kill him.

"Grunkle Stan, I've been through some of the weirdest near-death experiences a kid could have, all in the span of this summer! You can't just leave me here!"

"Sorry, Dipper. I can't risk losing both of you," Stan concluded as he grabbed the backpack and slipped his arms through the straps. As he did this, Stan's shirt partially lifted up and Dipper noticed something out of the ordinary.

The grip of what looked like a handgun was tucked into his waistband. It had been hidden under his shirt. Dipper knew that his Grunkle kept ten guns; his reasoning for it was if someone tried to sneak into the Shack with a ladder. The logic for it never made much sense. But the 12 year-old grasped the situation enough that a gun was probably a good idea. The old cliché "expect the unexpected" could define the whole essence of Weirdmageddon.

"You realize you can't actually stop me from coming," Dipper pestered.

"I know," Stan said, looking away from his nephew and to the road that led into town. "But you won't come."

"And why do you say that?" Dipper retaliated.

"Because you don't want to go out there _again_ ," Stan revealed.

The boy shrank at these words. Stan knew. He had no idea how but Grunkle Stan knew that he had snuck out last night. Before Dipper could respond, Stan cut him off.

"I don't want an explanation," he nagged as he turned to face Dipper. Stan crouched down so he faced his nephew eye to eye. This time, he spoke in a comforting voice.

"Look, Dipper. I get you want to help. But your safety is more important." After this, he pulled the kid in for a hug. Dipper halfheartedly returned the embrace. Once he let go, Stanley spun to face the road ahead.

"Don't talk to Ford while I'm gone. I'll be back by 5," Stan declared as he begun down the path.

"Wait!" Dipper called. The great-uncle turned to face the holler.

"How did you know?" Dipper asked in confusion.

"You think that just because I'm asleep when you leave and come back means I haven't woke up at all?" Stan joked.

* * *

Dipper slammed the door behind him as he trudged back inside. His conversation with Stan had left him in an irked mood. He assumed that his great-uncle woke up sometime last night and discovered the walkie-talkie he had left outside his bedroom. However, it didn't really make much sense.

Stan didn't do anything. He didn't call for him over the device. He didn't stay up to wait for him to return. When his nephew directly disobeyed him, he just went back to bed.

That wasn't even what bothered Dipper the most. Sure, Stan knew he had gone into town without him. But even when he shot back at him with confidence saying he couldn't stop him from tagging along, his great-uncle somehow knew his fear about everything outside. The truth was that Dipper didn't want to go into town. Seeing the destruction of the quaint town he had been living in for the past two months had really taken him aback. People he knew were missing or… he didn't want to come to that conclusion. The workmanship of Bill Cipher haunted him while he slept; from Mr. Northwest's disturbing new face to the bubble that had taken his sister away. Dipper knew this anxiety wouldn't help in getting back Mabel. But it was impossible for him to want to go back to that place. He didn't want to believe what he saw was Gravity Falls.

It wasn't until Dipper sat down in the living room that he realized how hungry he was. The time was almost noon. He didn't eat many pancakes last night and now his stomach was starting to pay the price. He slouched into the kitchen and threw the fridge open, hoping to find somewhat of a breakfast. He then remembered that Stanford had ate the leftover pancakes early this morning while Grunkle Stan was sleeping. He guessed Ford was in his laboratory under the house.

Still looking for something to quench himself, Dipper glanced through the refrigerator's contents. He removed the milk jug and grabbed a clear glass from the cupboard. He poured himself a cup of milk before gulping down the entire glass without hesitation. He then noticed the small stacks of tin cans lined up on the counter. Curiously, he approached them and took one in hand.

It was a simple label with bold uppercase lettering: The Brown Meat.

This was the same food that Stan had been stocking up on all summer. Oddly enough, Stan said it was in case of the apocalypse. He wondered how much of this stuff his great-uncle had in the house. The cans were out because Stan probably took some with him into town. He sighed.

"I'd be pretty bitter too if that was all I had to eat."

Dipper spun around in surprise. Stanford was standing right behind him.

"Great-uncle Ford! I didn't know you came out of the basement," Dipper said abruptly.

It wasn't until Dipper looked back at what he had in his hand and Ford's comment that he understood what his great-uncle had said.

"Oh," he chuckled weakly. "Yeah, that wouldn't be the best breakfast, lunch, and dinner."

"Did my brother leave?" Stanford asked, moving over to the refrigerator.

"Um, he left a few minutes ago," Dipper responded. "Look, great-uncle Ford? Stan doesn't want me to talk to you while he's gone."

"Really? What makes him in charge of you?" Ford questioned, looking into the fridge. It was the game of questions. He was sick of this game. It was Stanford's strong suit. He had done it before to convince Dipper to accept his apprenticeship and have Mabel return to Piedmont without him. Now, Dipper believed Ford was trying to make him turn on Stan.

"What is your deal with Mabel and Stan, Ford?!" Dipper badgered Stanford. "Since yesterday in the UFO, all you seem to do is belittle them! You tried to make me leave Mabel for your stupid apprenticeship and now you're trying to make me turn against Stan?! They're your family for goodness sake!"

All Stanford did during Dipper's tirade was close the fridge door and sit down at the table.

"Stan blames you for Mabel but it's not true. I kept the Rift from her. It's my fault that she ran into the forest. It's my fault she's gone."

Dipper sat down on the chair beside Ford as he blamed himself for Mabel's disappearance. He tried to not let his emotions get the best of him but he lost it. He used his pine-tree hat to cover his face from Ford. He had just gone from raging on Ford for his actions to bawling over his missing twin sister. Stanford gave a heavy sigh.

"You know that it's not your fault," Ford confessed.

"W-what are you talking about?" Dipper said through his teary sniffs.

"I gave you clear instructions not to tell your sister or Stan. I insisted on you staying in Gravity Falls to become my apprentice. You said that Mabel ran out with your knapsack after you told her the news. It all leads back to me."

The two remained silent for a while. Dipper's sniffs slowly began to cease after Ford admitted to being the root of the departure of Mabel.

"Dipper, I'm going to be honest about my behavior for the past couple days. The reason I was so persistent about you becoming my student is because when I look at you, I see a young 'me'. I had never met someone who shared so many interests with me before. Sure, me and Stanley grew up together and were close but we were quite different people. The idea of having an apprentice to continue my work here in Gravity Falls felt exhilarating when I first thought about it. I'm sure you'll admit you were excited about it when we agreed."

Dipper nodded as Ford continued.

"However, I knew there was one thing that would hold you back: your sister. Decades of hatred against my brother flared into trying to convince you that you were better than her, that you were meant for something more. All my hate for Stanley made me believe that he held me back as a floundering mind. I believed Mabel was doing the same to you. I was hoping she would accept daily life without you. I wasn't planning to keep you two apart forever. I was going to let you visit her many times through the year," Ford explained. "I never asked you: how did she take it?"

"I never _actually_ told her," Dipper revealed. "She heard everything over the walkie-talkie I had with me. I tried to tell her how it was a great opportunity for me and that we could still talk to each other online. Apparently, it was the worst day of her life. All she wanted was for summer to last forever."

"Well, she got her wish then," Ford mocked. "We've been stuck on the same day ever since Bill took over."

Dipper gave Stanford an angry glare over his quip about Mabel's wish.

"Sorry, that was inappropriate," Ford apologized.

"Actually, everything you said about her for the past days has been inappropriate! From her being 'suffocating' to calling her a 'goner'! Why did you think she was dead?" Dipper demanded.

"Bill beat us. I know that he's the type of demon to rub in his accomplishments. Plus, probably a fraction of the town's population is dead because of his takeover. Why wouldn't he kill Mabel?"

"He tricked both of us before," Dipper objected. "Did he kill us? No!"

"Look, I don't want to burst your G-rated bubble but we're aren't living some kiddie show. This is real life!"

Ford's last comment echoed through the house while awkward silence followed. Both Stanford and Dipper thought about what was said. If real life involved a psychotic triangle running the apocalypse with his best friends from 'hell', reality felt like the script of a badly-written cartoon. But the reflection wasn't long.

"What are you here to do, Ford? Argue with me about Mabel or apologize?" Dipper asked.

Stanford adjusted his glasses while hearing this. He looked down realizing quarreling with his great-nephew about his now-confirmed alive sister wasn't the best way to make up for his comments earlier.

"You're right. I was caught in the heat of the moment realizing Bill got the Rift. That was wrong of me to consider her that. I'm sorry. About everything. I guess the idea of you becoming my apprentice made me reflect my grudges against Stan onto you and your sister," Ford admitted. "Can you forgive me, Dipper?"

Dipper knew his great-uncle was being genuine. Stanford never really hated Mabel. Dipper had seen moments where Ford showed his parental love for Mabel like the time she returned with the unicorn hair. It was his desire for him to become his student that drove him to disparaging her, hoping he would agree and stay in Gravity Falls while she returned to California. While he still felt mad at him, he knew nothing good would come out of keeping this grudge. Now, if only Grunkle Stan could agree with that opinion.

"I forgive you, great-uncle Ford," Dipper affirmed, while extending his hand to Ford's. It was an odd move but they both shook hands as confirmation.

"So, now what? How are we supposed to defeat Bill and get Mabel back?" Dipper questioned. Ford grinned in response.

"I'm glad you asked that, Dipper. Come with me into my laboratory to see what we're going to do!" Stanford chimed while beginning to move out of the kitchen.

Dipper placed his milk glass in the sink before joining his great-uncle. Last night, he assumed the worst and thought he'd have to rescue Mabel by himself. But now, he had his great-uncle Stanford at his side.

He knew that Grunkle Stan had told him not to talk to Ford while he was gone. But how were they supposed to be able to tolerate each other without any communication? In less than ten minutes, he and Ford were back on good terms, ready to take on everything in Bill's arsenal to save the world and Mabel. The question he asked earlier still raced through his mind though.

How _were_ they supposed to defeat this crazy, bombast, manipulative triangle who had taken over their small town (and soon, THE WORLD) _and_ save Mabel, who had been trapped a bubble who knows where?

Pondering this only made his head hurt.

* * *

 **That's a wrap for Chapter 8. Sorry for the wait on this one. Like I said in the Author's Note from a few weeks back, homework took a big chunk of time and energy out of me in December. I'm hoping (NOT GUARANTEEING) that I can update faster so you guys don't have to wait that long.**

 **Since I won't be updating til' 2016, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all! ;)**

 **-ThatGuy**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Well, I must say that writing has become a lot more difficult than I expected. I take full blame on the wait for this chapter.**

 **My reaction to the final episode lies below the chapter. Enjoy!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own Gravity Falls. It is owned by Alex Hirsch and Disney.**

* * *

Stan huffed as he ducked behind a flattened car parked on the side of the road. It took a long moment for him to catch his breath. He knew that he wasn't in the best shape of his life and that running anymore would make him need to stop for a timely break. But as he leaned against the twisted wreck of metal, hiding from whatever had been making that horrendously disturbing sound as he ran away, he absorbed all his strength to carry on.

In the hour since he had left the Shack, he had run into a pixel karate fighter, a flying windmill that could shoot lasers from its blades, and the resident goat who almost stepped on him earlier. Dangers and oddities, odder than the usual Gravity Falls lore, were at every turn. He hadn't come across any people around town. It wasn't as if he was only looking in the streets. Stan scanned past shattered storefronts and searched through crumbling buildings but he hadn't discovered anyone yet.

The town itself looked like it had suffered an earthquake. Buildings brought down by the mayhem that rained down from the floating pyramid in the sky. Debris of the buildings lay scattered all over the streets, accompanying the wrecked cars tossed about.

"Where did everyone go?" Stan thought. Some had to be hiding; the only question was where.

He pushed off his feet and the destroyed vehicle he had been hiding behind. Stan decided he would check five more places before heading somewhere safe to rest.

Once he started walking, his thoughts turned to his brother and Dipper still at the Shack. He called back to memory the moment he awoke around half past 12 to hear the faint sound of static buzzing outside his bedroom door. It was at that moment that Stan realized that Dipper ignored his command not to leave the house. But instead of storming out into chaos looking for his great-nephew, Stan took a different approach to the situation. He set it back on the table and went back to bed.

The more he thought about it, the more he considered it to be a very dumb move. Stan couldn't even remember his logic behind the decision. When the world was going to complete insanity and his great-nephew running into the fray, he decided sleep was more important. That wasn't true though. He knew that Dipper was a smart boy and probably would be able to survive out there for a few hours. Heck, he could head out there and last longer than him. But even though the kid was capable of doing that, it was Mabel's disappearance that made Stan put the events of the past day into perspective. How was he going to explain this to her and Dipper's parents next week? Would anyone around here be alive in that time?

Ford had made it clear he believed she was dead. Stan refused to take that as a possibility. She had to be out here somewhere. The giant bubble he caught a glimpse of couldn't just disappear. Stanley also came to realize she could be right above him in the 'giant pyramid from hell', as he now called it.

As he rounded a corner, he quickly stopped and stepped back when he could make out two figures walking towards the same corner in the distance. Peeking his eyes out, he strained his vision to make out who they were. After a few seconds, the blurry shapes became clear for Stan.

Both of the figures weren't human. One looked like a tall goblin while the second looked like a walking set of teeth. They seemed to be talking with one another. And they were coming his way. He was quite sure the two of them hadn't noticed him his head poking behind the corner. At least, he _thought_ they hadn't noticed him.

"HEY!" a deep, distorted voice called out.

Stan swore quietly, pulling away from the corner. He began running back the way he had been journeying for the past hour. The running Stan had been doing had really taken a toll on him. He could feel his lungs and chest on the verge of collapsing. He needed a place to hide.

He spotted an alleyway that he had passed earlier. While it could be a dead end, he believed there had to be a window for him to get into a building and hide. He took the chance and took a swift left. Turning into the narrow path, he saw it ended yards away. A wall with an open window.

He was a really lucky man.

Swinging his right leg over and ducking his head in was the easy part. Getting his left leg through was the problem. The poor flexibility of that leg made it painful for Stan to kick it up high enough to clear the wall. As he struggled to lift it through, he could hear the arguing voices of the two creatures from earlier. Using his hands, he grabbed the limb and pulled it over the side. He hit the floor just as the monsters passed by.

"Where did he go?" the same voice that called at him before. Another voice, more nasally, replied "It doesn't matter, let's get back. We're missing the party!"

Stan heard their footsteps become quieter and quieter before they faded from his ears. He waited a few seconds before he gave a sigh of relief. He got up on his feet to look around and see what building he had entered. At a glance, it looked like he was in a small office of sorts. A desk was on his right, piled with papers and receipts. Wondering where he was, Stan opened the door leading out of the room.

Exiting the office, he found himself inside of a store. Shelves with assorted cleaning tools and substances were lined up right in front of him. Walking down an aisle, he could easily recognize the place as the town's hardware store. Passing by the firearm section, he noticed the locked storage case had been broken into. All the guns had been taken. Other supplies and aisles were ransacked as well. Weapons like bats and pitchforks were all out of stock. Snacks that were usually kept around the till to entice paying customers to pay a bit more were all gone. He had browsed through half the store when he heard a clanging sound coming from the gardening section.

"Hello?" Stan called. Only silence heeded his question. He assumed that if it was a person, they would have recognized his voice and responded. Sucking in the empty sound of the store, he grabbed the bat attached to his backpack. He clenched it in his sweaty hands while he approached the source of the noise. His nerves became confusion when he saw the floor covered with fertilizer. An opened bag of the stuff was slumped against the wall while a rake lay on top of the layer of dirt. Peeking his head around the corner to see the intersecting path, connecting the other aisles at the back of the store.

He was quite surprised when he was jumped from behind.

"ATTACK!" a voice called out just as Stan tried to protect himself using the bat. However, he wasn't fast enough as the being that jumped on top of him went for his face. Stanley struggled to pull the creature off of his head. The voice from earlier shouted again though the tone sounded more apologetic.

"Shmebulock! Stop! It's not a monster!"

The thing on his face let up his clawing, allowing Stan to throw him off. Though Stan was surprised to get jumped, he was even more shocked to see the creatures he had been dealing with. They weren't monsters.

They were gnomes. A group of about seven of them (including the one he had football spiked) stood in front of him.

"Heh," the one in the center began, "Sorry about that. We're just really cautious about intruders."

* * *

This was Stanley Pines' first experience with the gnomes that lived in the Gravity Falls forest. In all the time he had spent living under his brother's name, he avoided the forest behind the Shack at all costs. He never wanted to cross the path of some of the creatures he had read about in Ford's first journal.

He was glad though that he came across them instead. He would take living little garden gnomes over a shape-shifter any day. The one thing that made him bitter about the whole misunderstanding was the fact they had confused him for one of the monsters outside.

"Do I really look like one of those demonic things out there?!" he asked after the leader's apology.

"No, but the nose seems a bit big," said one of the little men. Before the one who spoke up could continue his analysis on Stan's facial features, the big man cut him off.

"Hey, my nose is perfectly normal!" Stan told back.

"C'mon guys! This isn't a good first impression!" complained the head of the seven. "Look, I think we started on the wrong foot Mister..." the leader trailed off, waiting to receive a name.

Extending his hand to greet the elf-sized men, Stanley introduced himself. "Pines, Stan Pines."

Stanley wasn't very sympathetic to the crazy, odd creatures of Gravity Falls. The few experiences he had with them (most of them over the past two months) made him weary about interactions with them. However, the gnomes that he had stumbled upon were quite friendly. At least, it appeared that way throughout their conversation. It seemed that the citizens of the town weren't the only beings suffering as a result of the apocalypse. According to them, the weirdness that had spread across town had made all the creatures that called the forest home evacuate. It had become _too weird_ , even for them. The pandemonium of the ordeal had separated most of the species. The seven he met in the hardware store had stuck together since they left home.

It pained him knowing that it wasn't just the townsfolk were facing adversity because of the world ending. The gnomes were trying to turn the hardware store into a home for themselves and other creatures if they could find any. It was a nice gesture but Stan doubted if this was the best place for them to set up shop.

And then an idea popped into Stanley's head.

It was an idea that he probably would regret in the future but he didn't want to leave the gnomes behind. They were resourceful and smart. At least, most of them were. He remembered the fact that the Mystery Shack was invincible to being destroyed thanks to the spell his brother and the kids had put on it some weeks earlier. It couldn't be touched by any monster that tried. It was now, even with all its building code violations, the safest place in Gravity Falls. Any creature would kill to stay there, knowing its protective barriers. He just wanted a favor if they were staying with him.

* * *

Dipper had been sitting for about a minute while Great Uncle Ford browsed around the room, looking for Journal #2. He eventually found it under a pile of other books on his desk. He rushed back to the table in his laboratory, ready to explain their plan of action. He flipped through the book until he stopped on a set of pages near the middle. He pointed to the centerpiece of the spread.

"This is the key to defeating Bill Cipher," Ford announced to Dipper.

A circular zodiac was etched into the page. A primal sketch of Bill was placed in the center circle while multiple symbols surrounded him. Dipper gawked at the image, waiting for Stanford to explain himself.

"You see, many years ago, I found this image in a cave. It was in the same cave system that housed the original description of Bill. The native people of Gravity Falls prophesied that these ten symbols could create a strong enough force to vanquish him. With Bill defeated, Weirdmageddon would cease and the town would be saved. I always thought that this was superstition, but now I see that it is destiny."

"I don't understand," Dipper stressed. "How does it work?"

"Don't you see the symbolism here, Dipper?" Ford asserted, making a point to two symbols in particular. A simple pine tree and a shooting star.

Pine tree. Shooting star.

"Wait a second," Dipper gasped. He pulled off his hat and stared at the pine tree emblem it displayed. "I'm 'Pine Tree' and Mabel is 'Shooting Star'. Bill's nicknames for us! I thought he called those names for no reason."

"Those two symbols are obvious but there are some that I'm not sure about," Ford sighed. "I'm pretty sure that I'm the six-fingered hand and Stanley is the crescent. That's the symbol on his fez. The symbols don't need to be literal though."

"The question mark is Soos! He wears that shirt with that question mark all the time! I need to write these down," Dipper exclaimed. He found some recycled paper and a pen while Ford continued to talk.

"Bill does know about the prophecy and its chosen people. But he doesn't know about us knowing," Ford explained. "We need to find everyone on this circle and join hands to defeat Bill!"

"We still need five other people to complete the circle. Wait, the heart with the stitches is familiar," Dipper observed, trying to recall where he had seen it. He gasped.

"It's Robbie! That's the same heart on the hoodie he wears."

"You see, Dipper? This circle is true and is the way to defeat Bill and save the town!" Ford squealed.

"But we have a problem," Dipper worried. "We need Mabel to complete the circle. We also need all these other people and we don't know who they are or where they are!"

"I honestly think that finding where she's trapped won't be difficult. Getting her out will be the hassle," Stanford conceded. "Do you know how Bill was able to get the Rift from her? I'm sure he had to have used some coaxing to get it."

"Yeah, but it's a long story. To sum up, he convinced Mabel that he could encase the town in a 'time bubble', making summer last forever. When I found her in the forest, she was unconscious and was taken away by some invisible force in a bubble."

"A time bubble, you say? Interesting," Ford commented, flipping through the pages of Journal #1 which had been already on the table. A few seconds of thought passed though him before he continued.

"There are two things we know. Like you said, Bill has Mabel trapped in a bubble. It may or may not be the 'time bubble' he promised though. The other thing is something that I've learned about Bill from my experiences with him. Bill Cipher loves to gloat. He's a show-off. That was one of the reasons I believed he killed her. But the more I think about it, why would he? She's a prize to him. What do you do with your accomplishments?"

"You display them?"

"Exactly!" Ford burst out. "I bet she's somewhere in the open, somewhere we could see easily. The only way we will be able to find her is to look around town."

"So, what do we do now?"

"We're going to have to decode the symbols and figure out who we need to complete the circle. Once we have everyone, we can look for Mabel's bubble and break her out before we destroy Bill," Ford proposed and chuckled. "We'll probably discover where Mabel is before we find everyone in the circle!"

Dipper gave a motivated expression but some displeasure still leaked through. He wanted to go after Mabel first but it was probably better to find the living representations of the symbols on the zodiac. They would be a part of a rebellion that could break Mabel out faster than just him, Ford and Stan.

"Hey," Ford said, noticing Dipper's sullen face. "I understand that you want your sister back but we are going to need everyone to defeat Bill. We will get Mabel back, I promise."

Grunkle Stan had said the same thing to him in the forest when she had disappeared in the bubble. Yet, Stan now had left him behind to find Mabel by himself, saying he couldn't risk losing him too. Dipper felt that he wasn't being reasonable anymore. On the other hand, Ford had a legitimate plan and was letting him get in on the action. He knew Stan would be furious. But he didn't care.

Hours earlier, he believed that his great-uncle Stanley was the only one he could trust. Now, the twin tables had turned.

"I know, Great Uncle Ford. We will find her."

* * *

"Hmmm, I don't know about this. She rejected becoming our queen and we still haven't forgiven her for that. Plus, she never gave us the prettier queen she promised!"

"Look mini-wheat, I have no idea what you're talking about but didn't you hear what I said before? I have a place that is a safe haven from all the weirdness outside. You would be so much safer there than in here! All you need to do is help me find and rescue her when I search for her next time."

"Well, we haven't broke much ground on 'Casa de Gnome-a'."

"I have tons of food as well. What do you have here for breakfast tomorrow?"

"Most of the food kept here was gone before we got here. We are planning to eat Shmebulock if it comes to it though."

"Really? Eating one of you own kind?"

"I guess you're right. Lead us to the Shack, Stan Pines!"

* * *

 **End scene. Now, about Take Back The Falls.**

 **I thought it was done absolutely perfect. It was a solid conclusion in satisfying us viewers in seeing the Pines family save the town. The 'regaining memory through a scrapbook' trope was a bit cheesy but I don't mind it at all. My only criticism is take Alex tricked us into thinking that Stanley was going to die. I mean, he did 'metaphorically', if that's what he was going for. But it kinda still irks me that he hyped that Season 2 death.**

 **Knowing that the series is now concluded, I may incorporate certain elements from the final episodes into the story. What I mean to say is that this story may lead into parts of the Weirdmageddon arc (ex. survivors and creatures hiding in the Shack), but it will take a different route to get there than the original plot. Also, the rating jump to T will happen (I plan to have a character death later). I believe that Disney may have had some influence on the ending. I'm not saying that if the show was on Cartoon Network or a different channel that characters would have died, but I like to think that this show would be different in some aspects if Alex Hirsch had his exact way with it.**

 **-ThatGuy**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: It's good to have another chapter out of the way. It's also nice to have a job interview in a couple days. Nervous and stressful, yes. But getting this job would be a huge step for me.**

 **So, Mabel has technically not been in this story yet (unless you count the time Dipper found her in the forest...). No longer! You also get your required fix of Bill in here too. This chapter is a sort-of flashback. Chronologically, I'm placing this part of the story sometime during Chapter 5 and 6. Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Gravity Falls or its characters. Alex Hirsch and Disney does.**

* * *

A jolt of consciousness rendered her awake. She stirred, moving to stretch her aching body. She squinted, immediately bringing her hand up to her face to shield herself from the light. Slowly pulling her hand away, she faced the source of the brightness.

White.

Looking straight ahead from where she lay just a few seconds ago, she became confused. There was nothing there. Only white. She craned her neck and moved herself to scan her surroundings. They were all white. She was puzzled.

She pushed herself off the ground, if there even was one, and stood to examine where she was. She spun in a full circle and became suddenly scared.

"H-hello?" she weakly called out to the empty world. Her voice echoed like the void she was in was a cavern. It made her feel even more isolated. The blank environment had a lack of any sense. She couldn't see anything besides white. She couldn't smell any odor. She couldn't hear anything besides her breathing, rising with her fear.

She took a step in a direction and began to walk slowly. Each step added even more worry as they seemed to lead to no place. Thoughts passed through her mind like they were running a marathon.

"What happened? Where am I? Where is the Mystery Shack? Grunkle Stan and Ford?"

The last thing she had remembered was being in Sweatertown out in the forest. Everything after going under her cozy, tear-soaking sweater was a blur. Had she fallen asleep? Was this some sort of dream?

"Oh, sorry I wasn't here when you woke up!"

That voice pained her deeply. Of course it had to be him. Who else would it have been?

"The triangle guy! What did you do?" she angrily demanded.

"Calm down, sweetie! You need to rest a bit more," he said, waving his hand upward. Before she knew it, a comfy reclining chair rose from under her. It immediately pulled into a lying position. Irritated, she grabbed the lever from the side and pulled it back to face Bill.

"Stop it! Answer my questions! Where am I?" she asked with fury.

"Ok, I'll explain," he said, creating a projection from his one eye. "I know lots of things, Shooting Star. I know your brother accepted your great-uncle Sixer's apprenticeship and he'll be staying around! I also know you weren't very happy about that or finding out that high school sucks. In fact, I heard your wish from earlier too!"

Moving images of her moping in the forest projected from Bill's eye during his explanation. Ford and Dipper shaking hands followed. When he paused, she heard her own voice speaking from earlier.

"I just wish summer could last forever."

"Well, I'm here to make that wish come true! Welcome to your wildest dream!" he declared in a joyous tone.

"Why should I trust you? You've lied to me and Dipper more than once before! Why should I take this deal?!" she blared out, standing up and getting out of the recliner.

"Whoa, easy there! I never said this was a deal! This is a gift from me to you! I don't want anything in return," he responded, trying to calm her down. "Look, I'm actually not keeping you here. See that over there?"

The triangle pointed to a far-off door in the distance. Mabel never noticed it before. Perhaps it was because Bill possibly made it appear when he arrived.

"That's the exit," he said, being blunt. "I want you to know that I'm not forcing any of this on you, Shooting Star. If you want to leave, go right ahead. But I suggest you stay for a bit and try out this fantasy world," Bill proposed as he leaned back into the air, drifting in a relaxed position.

"I don't understand. This isn't my fantasy, this is empty," she mumbled depressingly.

"That's the point. I don't know what your fantasy is, Shooting Star. But I know you have quite an imagination. You have an imagination that I haven't seen in anybody in the past seven millennium! This void is just a blank slate for you to make this place your fantasy! You're in control here! I'll show you how it works," he jested, hovering closer towards her. He waved his hand to the vast hallow world in front of her.

"All you have to do is imagine. Anything you come up with, this place will deliver. Tell me, what is one thing that you wish was real?"

As much as she had wanted to leave since she woke up, her curiosity began to take control. Was it really true? There was only one way to find out.

"Well, I always wanted a bodyguard. Like a waffle with big arms! It would protect me and be my snack if needed."

"That's so… ingenious! It's the perfect example," Bill said, trying to sound sincere. "Now, look over there and imagine your waffle guards."

Mabel stared blankly at the blank background. Closing her eyes, she began to visualize the waffle guards that she had drawn once before. Only after about a second, she heard a voice other than Bill's.

"I am here to serve and protect you, Mabel."

Opening her eyes, she found herself facing a realized version of the drawing she had made weeks ago. A big, floating waffle stared at her with eyes that bled determination. He had the same ridiculous muscular arms that physically would make the waffle incapable of floating. He also had a butterknife sword that he held in his right hand. He began to bend over, as if he was bowing down to her.

"Woah," she said with astonishment. "I can't believe it! You're here!"

"Of course I am," he responded with enthusiasm. "I will always be here to protect you and be your snack if needed," he declared, pulling a small piece of his body off with his arm. He winced in pain when he tore it off and handed it to Mabel. "That didn't hurt at all," he groaned, trying to hide his discomfort.

What she had said earlier still rang true seconds later: she couldn't believe it. Bill wasn't lying. This place had brought her waffle bodyguard to life.

"So, what do you think, Shooting Star? Is this place great or what?" the triangle heartily asked from behind.

"This is amazing! So, this place can create literally anything I think of?" she asked with wonder.

"It sure can!" Bill affirmed.

"But, why are you doing this for me?" she questioned in confusion.

Bill sighed. "I'm going to be honest, Shooting Star. You're in a rough situation. Pine Tree is staying behind here to help old Sixer and you're heading back home! Eighth grade in September is gonna be pretty tough if you ask me. I mean, I never went to school, but I know everything," he joked.

"Your world is falling apart," he said in an honest, serious tone. "Here though, it can be whatever you want it to be. You can be with Pine Tree and your friends. You can make summer last forever!" he marveled.

"You know what, can I ask you another question? Since your brother is being a nard as of late, what is your perfect version of him?" Bill pestered.

Mabel's mind rewound itself back to when Dipper tried to reason with her about him accepting Ford's apprenticeship. She tried to think of something that Dipper would hate if he saw himself like that. An idea immediately popped into her head. It was exactly what she would want if she could remake her brother if possible.

She looked past Bill into the empty space and pictured her perfect twin brother. She didn't even bother closing her eyes. She knew that she was all-powerful here and whatever her wishes were, they would be answered.

"That," she said proudly, pointing behind Bill. "That is the Dipper I would want."

Bill turned around to face the absolute version of Pine Tree that Shooting Star wanted.

At first glance, it looked completely like him. There were a few wardrobe changes like the backwards hat, grey jeans, and the neon-green glasses. Bill wasn't amused at first. Only when he started to talk, it got funny.

"Yeah!" he shouted in an absurd voice. "Wiggity-wiggity-what's up, dude-bros? I'm Dippy Fresh! I like skateboarding, supporting my sister, and punctuating every sentence with a high five!"

The triangle began to laugh hysterically.

"Now that is version of Pine Tree I would have paid to see!" he croaked in laughter. Mabel agreed. It was quite funny to see Dipper acting like that. There was only one more thing to add to make him perfect.

A green hoverboard materialized beside him. "Woah!" he exclaimed, grabbing it and promptly started to ride it around the void. "Totally radical!"

"I have to say, Shooting Star, I was surprised to see that," Bill complimented. "This 'Dippy' is a definite improvement on the original Pine Tree! I can only _imagine_ the paradise you could make this place. What do you think? Want to stay for a while?" Bill almost extended his hand like he did with every proposal he made with humans. He restrained himself, remembering this wasn't a deal. It was a _gift_.

"I'd love to," she smiled, continuing to adore the waffleguard and improved Dipper she had created.

"I'll come by later to see what you do with the place!" he called out before vanishing into the blank background.

Mabel turned to see both her wafflegaurd and Dippy Fresh eagerly waiting for her next wish.

"Well, I think you need to spruce up the place a bit," the waffle suggested.

"Just you guys wait, I'm going to create a world unlike anything you've ever seen," she insisted. Doing a 360° to visualize her dream world, she spotted a blemish in one corner. It was the door that Bill had left for her.

She placed her hand in view to make it look as if she was holding it between her thumb and index finger. With a swift motion, she crushed the tiny door. Moving her hand away, the door was now a pile of broken wood.

"That's better," she muttered under her breath before approaching her two comrades to discuss her plans for the empty realm. They gasped in wonder as she described the place to them. Afterwards, she walked out a few steps and closed her eyes. She turned in one full circle. Upon opening her eyes, her imagination was more alive than it could have ever been. She already had a name in mind for this utopia.

Mabeland.

* * *

Bill gave a distorted chuckle as he teleported into his pyramid palace back in reality. His plan was going exactly as he had hoped. He was so happy with himself, he began to hum a familiar tune. He found it quite relevant as he had just given Shooting Star a world she couldn't have ever imagined before. Three notes repeated themselves over and over before it reached the main melody.

 _Come with me and you'll be_

 _In a world of pure imagination_

 _Take a look and you'll see_

 _Into your imagination_

Pouring himself a drink from his mini-bar in his room, he dropped a single eyeball to complete his martini. He took a small sip through his eyelid. Yes, everything was going according to plan.

 _We'll begin with a spin_

 _Travelling in the world of my creation_

 _What we'll see will defy explanation_

The demon actually pondered for a moment about how easy it was to convince Shooting Star to stay in the bubble. It only took two examples of its capabilities before he left her alone. Bill thought it would have taken longer. But he knew her vulnerable position had made everything so much easier. The whole apprenticeship between Sixer and Pine Tree and the true realization of high school made it no problem to persuade her. The skill of swaying the human mind was one of his strengths. Then again, their minds were so weak.

 _If you want to view paradise_

 _Simply look around and view it_

 _Anything you want to, do it_

 _Wanna change the world?_

 _There's nothing_ _t_ _o it_

He hovered over to a triangular window that was facing the valley of the town. Savoring another gulp of his drink, he gazed through the glass to see a perfect view of the gigantic pink bubble that was several miles away. Monstrous chains were wrapped snug around the sphere. With the key to unlock it in the hands of Gideon Gleeful, Bill was sure the trap was secure.

 _There is no life I know_

 _To compare with pure imagination_

 _Living there, you'll be free_

 _If you truly wish to be_

Bill did plan to check up on her later to see the way she made her 'trap' comfortable. While she was not part of his original plan, the girl would definitely be useful if something happened to come up. She was the perfect bait for the true players in the game he was playing.

 _If you want to view paradise_

 _Simply look around and view it_

 _Anything you want to, do it_

 _Wanna change the world?_

 _There's nothing_ _t_ _o it_

Still contemplating his visit with her, he was very glad that she never tried to use the door he had shown her. It was completely bogus. If she had tried to escape, he would have had to resort to other means to keep her in there. He didn't want to bring any harm to her. It was better to keep her untouched for unexpected circumstances.

 _There is no life I know_

 _To compare with pure imagination_

 _Living there, you'll be free_

 _If you truly wish to be_

He took a final swig of his drink before he started to leave his room to go and sit on his throne made of petrified human bodies. The glass shattered as he threw it against the wall in exuberance.

"Stage one is almost complete," he cackled to himself. "World domination is almost within my reach!"

* * *

 **Some people may not agree with the fast decision Mabel has about staying in the void. But hey, I'm the Author! Oops, I mean 'author'. I'm not "The Author". Also, consider the fact that she doesn't remember the Blendin-Bill incident as well as that she just had 'the worst day of her life'. She doesn't hate Dipper but she is really bitter with him and Ford too.**

 **For some reason, I really wanted Bill to sing a song in this story after seeing him serenade us with "We'll Meet Again" for a few seconds in the finale. But I find that song numbers in story don't always translate so well (I have nothing against songfics!). So, I came up with a compromise. He doesn't sing, but he hums a classic song Pure Imagination from Willy Wonka. I suggest reading the second part of the chapter with the Maroon 5 cover playing in the background (link: /watch?v=bk82L6DwUE8). I find that it really captures the disturbing, odd essence of Bill Cipher.**

 **Also, one final thing. Thanks again to everyone who has followed and favourited this story! Remember to review as well! Love you guys and girls!**

 **-ThatGuy**


	11. Author's Note

**A/N: Well, well, well.**

 **I'm not completely sure how to start this note off. It's been several months since I last signed in or even wrote a single word for both of my two stories. Tonight, I wrote a sentence for WDHARI for the first time since March. What I remember the most about that period when I was churning out chapter after chapter was how stressed out I got when I hit a block in writing. I wanted to finish chapters and publish them, but I didn't want to rush things and release badly written junk. After I hit the wall on WDHARI, I started another story: _It's All Ahead of Us_. I planned it as a three/four-shot, thinking with the shorter frame, I wouldn't hit a snag like I did on this story. While I had some struggles, the plot was fully developed ahead of time and it helped me very much. Currently, the story is literally almost finished.**

 **So, why is it not finished yet? Well, to sum up, I got busy. School came to bite me in May and June with final projects and exams. I mentioned a job interview the last time I updated this story. That interview turned into a job. I've been working most of the summer. With the money, I bought a laptop so I wouldn't have to use the family computer for any school related work or personal projects of mine. And, writing has been at the back of my mind until very recently.**

 **Do I have a plan? Well, sort off. First, _It's All Ahead of Us_ will be finished. I'm going to wrap it up nicely without rushing myself as I hate reading my own work when it's done hastily. Especially knowing that people on the Internet are reading it as well. Second, WDHARI is not being cancelled (yet). I don't want to give up on this. Sure, I found it difficult to find the words to describe what I picture but I don't want to discard this. I am actually 'kind of' proud of it (some chapters). And as an author, it's disrespectful to the audience of people to end a story without giving a legitimate reason. The emails I get about new favourites and follows are a constant reminder of the wonderful people who read and support the stories I make for pleasure.**

 **I guess to sum up, this note is to assure readers that I haven't given up on either story. I'll be posting a shorter note on IAAOU as well. Thanks to everyone who has read, faved, or followed this at any point, especially during this giant hiatus. See you soon! :)**

 **-ThatGuy (who has finally bucked up to write something).**


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